She lost track of how long she had waited for Adam to return. When he did, there were a dozen Ai’thol with him. Most of them were in various states of dress, hurriedly pulling on jackets or pants, and one of them still buckling the sword around his waist. They stopped in front of her, standing in formation, and she nodded.
“Very good. The Great One will be pleased with your performance.”
Relief swept across each of the men’s faces.
“Many of you are probably wondering why I summoned you here at this time of night.” The men nodded, but no one spoke. It was a marker of just how well they would serve that they didn’t. “I have come to Lexa because the disciple is missing.”
With that, there did come a faint murmuring. Ryn decided to let it pass without comment. The men needed that opportunity.
“I have come to investigate.”
“What do you need of us, emissary?”
This came from Adam. Either he was the most senior of the Ai’thol on patrol, or he had taken it upon himself to assume that role given that she had approached him. Either way, she decided it didn’t matter. She would use him.
“What I need from you is to escort me into the palace.”
“The emissary of the Great One would not need an escort,” Adam said.
She cocked her head, staring at him. He looked down, refusing to meet her eyes.
“If the disciple is missing, there is danger. The Great One would be most displeased if something happened to his emissary as well.”
She took a deep breath, drawing herself up as tall as she could, making certain the pendant hung for all to see. It was the only thing she had that marked her as belonging to the Great One, and she would use it.
“Of course, emissary. We will do whatever it takes.”
She nodded, and they formed up around her, three in front, one on either side of her, and the rest lined up behind her. They waited for her to start forward, and they marched toward the palace.
A fluttering rolled through her chest, a nervousness she knew she shouldn’t feel, but she couldn’t help it. She was on edge. This was not the kind of thing she normally would do, but it was something she needed to do. They might run into trouble, and she wanted to be prepared for the possibility that they would face an attack. But she felt far safer now than she had when it had only been her and Dillon.
They reached the main entrance. The Ai’thol slowed, parting on either side of her to allow her to approach. Ryn took a deep breath, steadying herself, worried that if she weren’t careful, the type of attack she might experience would be more than she could manage. She was safe. She was with other Ai’thol who served. They did so without question, joining her, following the leadership of the Great One.
Ryn nodded, and Adam strode forward.
Two others followed him, and they tested the door, but it was locked.
Adam glanced back at her, and she could see a question in his eyes.
What would she do?
She was the emissary of the Great One. She was supposed to be here.
Ryn pulled the knife out of her pocket, slipping it into the lock. As it often did, it seemed as if it wiggled, shifting, and took the shape of the lock. It was a useful knife for this purpose, though she had never tried using it for any other. As she twisted it, the door popped open.
Stepping back, Ryn slipped the knife back into her pocket.
The Ai’thol turned away from her, and they headed into the palace. It seemed as if they had a renewed purpose, a vigor to their step that hadn’t been there before, and Ryn smiled to herself. They had wanted her to prove she belonged. The pendant was part of it, but her accessing the palace was another.
Standing inside the door, she looked around. There was no sense of movement, no nausea. There was nothing other than the smooth walls she’d seen when she’d been here before. Even then, she’d been under some duress, trying to hurry through, not only to figure out what was in here, but also because she was trying to escape.
“Check all the rooms,” Ryn said.
“Yes, emissary,” Adam said.
Most of the Ai’thol departed, but not all of them. Two stayed with her, and she remained in the entrance to the palace, waiting. The Ai’thol stood perfectly still. These were soldiers, men who’d trained to fight on behalf of the Great One. Both had the scars of their blessing, and with it, she knew they had some power of their own, though she wasn’t sure what that might be. She found herself wondering whether she’d made a mistake with Dillon. Maybe she should have let him stay with her. But this was something of the Ai’thol, and he had proven that he had no interest in acting on their behalf.
Gradually, the others began to return, sharing their findings with her. There was no one.
When Adam returned, she met his eyes. “We must find the disciple.”
“Of course, emissary.”
“I believe there are cells several levels down. See who might be within them.”
Adam frowned. “There are no cells within the palace.”
She turned to the Ai’thol next to Adam. “What is your name?”
“Marcus Hamerschit.”
“Marcus, I would like you to investigate the lower levels of the palace. If there is a staircase off a long and narrow hallway, I would like you to go down it and check to see if there is a long row of cells. If there are, break into each of the doors until you find who is held within. Oh, and Marcus, bring a lantern, as I suspect you’ll find it is dark.”
Marcus nodded and turned, Adam hurrying off with him.
“I need you to stand guard by the door to the disciple’s room. The others need to ensure the safety of the palace. Are there any other Ai’thol within the city?”
One of the men nodded. He was shorter than the others, but his scar ran the entirety of his neck. It was a strange incision that suggested he’d been willing to take on a more dangerous type of blessing. “There’s another regiment stationed on the far side of the city.”
“Good. Go and gather them.”
“For patrol?”
“Within the palace,” Ryn said.
The man nodded, hurrying off. She started up the stairs, walking this time rather than traveling as she had with Dillon. When she reached the top of the stairs, heading down the hallway, she paused at the door leading into the disciple’s rooms. All of the rooms had been searched, but she couldn’t shake the sense that the man who controlled the shadows would have been able to hide from them. How long would he be able to do so?
She would have to be vigilant. With her enhanced eyesight, she should be able to notice anything that seemed unusual, and so she paused once inside the disciple’s room. It looked no different than when she had been here only a few hours before, but her discomfort and unease were quite a bit less with the Ai’thol watching over her, ensuring her safety.
The two men who had followed her took up a position on either side of the door. Neither of them spoke.
Ryn headed into the room, turning the lantern up as brightly as she could, pushing back the darkness. She swept her gaze around, searching for any sign of unusual movement, anything that might suggest there was someone hiding here. Nothing came.
When she took a seat on the chair, Ryn let out a nervous sigh. Her heart finally slowed. Maybe she had been successful.
A knock on the door caught her attention and she turned to it. Dolan stood there, his hands clasped behind his back, his dark eyes shining with a question.
“Emissary. You have returned.”
“You didn’t think I would?”
“When you had your—friend?—place us back in the cells, we questioned whether you would return. It was difficult for us to know whether you had been influenced by them.”
“Which is why you attacked him?”
“There was a man with them who looked just like him.”
Ryn nodded. “I believe you, Dolan.”
“What did you do with him?”
“I let him return to his people.�
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“Emissary?”
“I had no reason to restrain him.”
“Even if he was responsible for what took place here?”
Ryn shook her head. “He wasn’t.” She looked around the room. “I am curious what happened with the disciple.”
“I told you what they did to him.”
“Yet you haven’t told me why.”
“Because he served.”
Dolan took a step into the room, and she shook her head. Ryn wasn’t sure who to trust, and until she had time to observe and decide, she was going to trust only those soldiers who were keeping guard at the door, and even then, she intended to do so with caution.
“What is your intention, emissary?”
“My intention is no different than it always has been. I intend to serve as the Great One requires.”
“And how is that?”
Ryn looked down at her hands. She could feel the metal wrapped around, and though she no longer believed it was the sacred metal, it still behaved in a similar fashion. It had changed her, giving her an ability, and with that, she thought she could use it to find strength. It was possible she would develop other abilities, though she needed time to reflect upon what she had. More than that, she needed to get word to the Great One. She needed to decide what would happen with Dreshen.
First, though, she needed to ensure Lexa was secure.
“As his emissary, of course.”
Dolan watched her for a long moment before bowing his head. “I am at your service, emissary.”
Ryn stared straight ahead and smiled.
46
Daniel
When Alistan had said he would show them why Carth had come to the city, Daniel thought that perhaps it would be something Alistan possessed, some item, perhaps even the Elder Stone itself. Daniel was not expecting Alistan to guide them from his home, back out into the darkness. He took a different way, meandering around the side of the home and along a narrow path. In the dark, Daniel could barely make out the garden growing on either side of the path, though he could smell it. The flowers had a fragrance that carried into the air, scents that were so different than what he was accustomed to in Elaeavn or anything he had known during his travels.
“Where are you taking us?” he asked.
Alistan glanced back. “You wanted to know why Carth remained in the city.”
“From what you said, Carth was here because of this Collector.”
“Oh, she was, but not at first. When she first came, she was looking for information. The longer she was here, the more she realized there was a connection to something more.” They reached the gate, and Alistan paused with his hand at the door, looking over at them. “They were connected, you see.”
He pushed the door open, heading back out into the city. Once through the gate, Rayen continued to push on shadows, sending them swirling around her, but as she did, he detected a certain resistance to her shadows. More and more of the buildings seemed to have the same stone that made it difficult for her to move past.
He paused in front of one, studying it. There was something strange about the stone, and he couldn’t tell what that was. Was it simply that it was stone like this that he found unusual, or was it more about how the shadows failed around it?
“What is it?” Rayen asked, pausing next to him.
“Look at the way this is built,” he said, motioning to the stone.
“I’m not sure what you’re seeing,” she said.
“It’s not built out of blocks,” he said. He looked up to Alistan who stood a couple of paces away, watching them. “How are these constructed?”
“An interesting question, and one that you will get an answer to, but first you need to come with me.”
“Do you care to tell us where we’re going?”
“Not until we get there.”
Daniel didn’t like blindly following the man, but at the same time, he didn’t think he was going to harm them. There was nothing about Alistan that suggested he was capable of hurting them, even if he attempted to.
“Lead on,” Daniel said, waving his hand.
Alistan smiled at him and turned, heading back into the city. They made their way past more of the buildings constructed in the same manner, and Daniel couldn’t help but look at them to see whether he could decipher anything from how they were built, but there was nothing.
Alistan paused at a small clearing. From here, the buildings changed, no longer constructed of the same stone. There was a space between those made of the stone and those that looked to be built out of wood. “We’re leaving some of the oldest buildings in Keyall.”
The wooden construction reminded him of the type of tavern they had first experienced when they had come to Keyall. As they continued, Daniel had to wonder where Alistan would lead them in the newer construction. He would’ve expected that if there was an Elder Stone, it would be located within the older part of the city. He passed a section that was crumbling, the buildings falling, and pieces of stone with massive holes inside them.
“What do you see?” Alistan asked, pausing in front of one of the ramshackle buildings.
Daniel studied the building, looking at it from each side. It gave him an opportunity to try to get a sense of how the building was constructed, the way that the walls were built. It seemed to be a single sheet of stone rather than blocks. Sections of it had crumbled, leaving a pile of the same black rock on the ground.
“It’s an entire sheet of the same stone,” Daniel said.
Alistan nodded. “That would be the key to how we build—or built—these buildings. We don’t make them like that anymore. The technique in the construction has been lost for the most part. It’s easier to build out of wood, though something has been lost, if you ask me.”
“How did they move the stone?”
“That’s a great question. Most of these other buildings are hundreds of years old, built long before anyone kept records.” Alistan smiled. “I’ve searched for as much as I can about Keyall, trying to get a better understanding of how the people of this place managed to construct these buildings, but I haven’t been able to come up with anything. Those who are native to this land have not shared if they know.”
“You’re not from Keyall?”
“They have welcomed me as if I were, but I am not of Keyall.”
Perhaps this man wouldn’t be able to help them find the Elder Stone if he wasn’t a local.
“You haven’t been able to uncover anything about how they moved the stone?” Rayen asked.
“There are theories. Some of the priests would like us to believe it was more of a mystical approach, though I know better. There are some—much like your friend—who have power and ability, and I have long suspected that it took people like that in order to move the stone into place and build the walls.” Alistan turned and motioned to the rest of the city. “Keyall has been situated atop this rock for hundreds and hundreds of years. It was built as a fortification at first, though even then there were people who were native to this place.”
Alistan started forward again, and Daniel expect him to continue on the street, but he surprised them by ducking into one of the buildings. As he followed, Daniel realized the building didn’t have a roof—whatever protection from the elements had been there had long ago failed. Moonlight streamed in, faint slivers of silver casting shadows along the ground.
Daniel noticed one section that seemed to be reflecting the moonlight more brightly. He started toward it, when Rayen caught him by the wrist.
“I find all of this unusual,” she said.
“Him or the fact that we are here?”
“Perhaps both. Carth never talked about a Collector.”
“Maybe there’s a reason behind that.”
“I don’t know. When it comes to Carth, if it were important, she would have shared.”
Daniel started to step over the water when he paused.
There was something about it that drew him. He leaned
over, staring at the way the moonlight reflected off its surface.
Not reflected.
The water itself seemed to have a faint glow to it.
His breath caught. It was a subtle bluish glow, and it reminded him of what he’d seen from the sacred crystals.
That couldn’t be coincidence, could it?
He cupped his hands into the water, bringing it to his nose. Alistan had continued onward and was somewhere on the far side of the room, shuffling around.
“Do you see this?” he whispered. He glanced up to Rayen before flicking his gaze in Alistan’s direction. He didn’t want the other man to realize that they weren’t there quite yet.
“The water or the moonlight reflecting off it?”
“The water where the moonlight isn’t reflecting off it.”
Rayen wrapped shadows around his hands. Even when doing that, the faint glowing persisted.
“It’s the water,” she whispered.
“I think so.”
“What does that mean?”
Daniel frowned. “I don’t know. The only thing that glows like that is the”—he glanced up, looking to see where Alistan had gone, but didn’t see the other man—“crystals. They have a little bit brighter glow, but not so much that it would be all that different from this.”
He’d never held one of the sacred crystals, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t recognize it.
He was tempted, and on a whim, he brought the water up to his mouth and tasted it.
It had a faintly coppery taste, almost slippery as well, and he brought his cupped hands to his mouth, drinking.
“Are you still with me?” Alistan called out.
Daniel headed toward him. “We’re still here.”
He hurried forward, reaching Alistan, and Rayen stayed with him. Every so often, he would look down and notice that his fingers were still glowing from where he had touched the water. He clasped his hands behind his back, not wanting Alistan to note he had come across the water. If he was right, then the water represented the Elder Stone, at least water like that. This couldn’t be the only location for it, but the idea of water serving as an Elder Stone seemed right. There was something about Keyall that suggested the city subsisted on water. It was situated in a difficult-to-reach location, with a deep-water harbor accessible by ship, and the people of the city that he had seen all looked to be tied to the sea, many of them fishermen or merchants or traders.
The Coming Chaos Page 45