Surfacing Ch. 23

"Have you seen Deshi?" he asked as he watched the Noldor leave.

At the heavy pause, Mourn turned his gaze on each of us and read whatever was there. "What happened?"

"He ran off," Jael said. "He was upset that he didn't die after the battle. Or during it."

I shook my head. "That is only part of it."

Mourn exhaled softly. ""None of my Guild have seen him, though they have looked. His brothers are extremely worried. Tell me, please, what happened?"

Gavin had been finishing whatever "cleanup duty" had been necessary following the departure of the Kyton, but he heard Deshi's name and approached us in the open room to listen. I looked between them, only somewhat less anxious for answers from them as the Yungian had been from me.

"He was waiting for some sign from Nyx what to do next, and he said he has sensed nothing. He asked me for an answer but I told him we would have to talk with the Deathwalker, then..."

I hesitated. The necromancer tilted his head curiously while Mourn kept his focus level and steady.

"What did you see?"

"In his face, a desire for something," I said. "Or a need. Like for water or food or sex. Maybe all of it."

Gavin shook his head. "He does not need any of those things. What were you doing at the time?"

I met my ally's eyes and said deliberately, "Talking."

Gavin followed the significance I put on the word. "And where was his focus? On your words?"

I shook my head. "No. But he was looking at my mouth."

"Inhaling, perhaps?"

I thought back. "Yes."

Gavin smiled just slightly. "Your breath. Interesting."

Mourn was in a crouch and looked up toward the Deathwalker. "Her breath. Specifically hers?"

I shook my head. "No. Jael got in between us and told him to back off, and he looked at her a similar way."

"Perhaps that is better than it otherwise could be," Gavin mused, "but I will have to study him to be sure."

"Meaning what?" Jael asked impatiently and Gavin shifted icy blue eyes to her.

"It seems likely that he was subconsciously drawn to what gives him sustenance now: the breath of the living. If that is true, then would it not be better that his 'diet' not be from so rare a source?"

I knew I was frowning. "Isboern told me during the battle that Deshi was alive. Or at least partly. Not simply raised."

Gavin joined me in a frown. "I might question his certainty on that and how much is his own wishful thinking. Life magic was needed to rebuild his body, that is true. The Godblood might have mistaken the residual as true life, but if Deshi must feed upon the living to continue his existence here in this world, then he is not truly alive as most consider it."

"But fellow corpses would be entirely useless to him," Jael said, glancing over to where Night-mare was nibbling on one of the freshly-dead Hellhounds.

Mourn shook his head as his tail coiled around itself just before he stood up. "Speculation will not help now. We must find him. Can you sense him, Deathwalker?"

"Not at this time," he replied; a bit too readily, I thought. "Perhaps if we get closer."

"Where do we search that his Guild brothers have not already covered?" Jael asked as she helped me to my feet.

Mourn lifted Graul with ease, much to the drake's delight as he snuggled into the big arms. Outside of the wall less room into which I had been carried, the Sun was at its highest and hottest. I did not relish going out and searching for the Yungian in this, especially at random, or even systematic.

"Can we ask for Isboern's help, then?" I asked. "There are few enough minds thinking thoughts around here at the moment, he might be able to help narrow down."

"A good idea," Mourn said.

"We should presume you have not grown into this ability as well?" Gavin asked dryly, gesturing to cluster his servants together out of the Sun and have them stand here to wait for him.

"Yes, you should presume that," I replied in a similar tone, taking back Soul Drinker and my spiders from Night-mare. "The Man could contact all of his officers at the defense wall from the Temple, and tell us the direction to go when the Hellhounds had Deshi. I haven't gotten past physical contact yet."

"Nice to hear the intent to move past it at some point," Gavin commented.

Jael tensed up hearing this though Mourn chose not get involved, instead helping Graul to shift up onto his left shoulder and perch facing forward. I could tell that, even with the stiff joints and aching bones, this was a well-practiced habit as the drake's long tail coiled around Mourn's bicep and all four feet found their purchase in the hybrid's harness. The little beast chirred in contented cycles, happy enough simply looking around him to make me wonder how long it had been since he had last left Mourn's library in Yong-Wen.

We moved out beneath the intense Sun and blue Sky, down the same main road that Mourn, Gavin, and I had taken before to the temple. It had been at nighttime then, going uphill, and there had been hundreds of people around with their little fires going. Now it was all downhill, all quiet, and the corpses and broken buildings warred with blinding light to be most oppressive on the senses. There were not even any birds or rodents I could hear.

Each of us had our hoods up when we met the Captain and the Templars on their way back from a trip beyond the crumbled city walls. I had to either be impressed with their speed in that armor, or question exactly how long I had been dealing with the Kyton. They had taken a stretcher and a dirty blanket from somewhere and had gone back to collect the one-eyed girl who had been swinging in the cage from the wall when we had arrived.

Mourn greeted the Captain with a gesture and Isboern returned it, his face splitting into a nice smile as he focused on Graul.

"There you are, little one," he said jovially enough to make his Men peer curiously at the giant lizard. "The eyes and ears working inside against the Hellhounds. Much like Tamuril's cantankerous and protective falcon, I presume?"

The violet flap of skin beneath Graul's jaw fluttered neutrally though he might have preened just a bit at the open admiration from the Captain. "Yes."

"What is your name?"

"What is yours?" Graul said, shifting his grip on the harness a bit as he leaned into the conversation.

"I am Knight Captain Willven Isboern of Manalar. These are my Templars, my Lieutenant Knight Eric, and Sirs Esben, Rafe, Aino, Vidan, and Torben."

"I am Graul Ir'mrith Sjach," the ancient familiar replied.

"An honor to make your acquaintance, dragon kin."

Watching the drake and his big master's subtle tail shifts, I realized Mourn was immensely pleased and amused as he kept quiet. Isboern was doing one of the best things he could to impress the Guild Leader, and if it had been intentional, it succeeded in spades.

During the introduction I also noticed one of the Templars free from carrying the stretcher instead step by the girl's head, as if to prevent her from turning her head and seeing us should she become conscious and open her eye.

Additionally, while Jael and myself appeared "normal" with our black faces shaded by black material, several of the Templars noticed instantly that Gavin had a similar appearance within his lighter grey robes. They were somewhat distracted from Graul by this, disturbed and automatically made the sign of Musanlo.

Isboern noted Gavin's significant change beneath the Sun along with the others but looked more contemplative before he turned his attention to Mourn. I wondered if he would ask the question now or later but then Mourn spoke first.

"We have purpose for stopping you but will not keep you," the hybrid said, getting straight to the point after the formality. "We are missing one of our own."

The Godblood held sympathy looking between us and nodded. "Deshi."

"My surviving Guildsmen are injured and tired and have not been able to conduct a full search while they gather supplies from the forward camps. I ask whether you may be able to sense the direction he has gone? We will go find him and you may tend to your citizen."

Isboern offered a strange smile. "I confess I have already done what you ask. I sensed the distress when he fled, I was nearby. He chose high, as high as he could reach. I believe he wanted the fresh air with his solitude." The psion looked toward the peak of the mountain cradling Manalar's battered temple. "He has not left that area, nor has he jumped, though he considered it."

Mourn lifted a brow. "He did not jump. Did you influence that decision?"

"I might have suggested he needs to catch his breath first."

"Or plant the doubt that he may still heal from such a fall," Gavin suggested, and Isboern granted his opposite a wry smile with a nod.

"I was merely the slightly-louder voice of the conscience he already has," the Godblood said without embarrassment. "He does not want to die again, the choice was his. Do find him. He needs his mystic leaders as he hides from his human brothers."

From the look on at least two Templars' faces, I guessed that Isboern had phrased it like that deliberately. They could not help but wonder why the Captain would show Human compassion to someone clearly not Human anymore, and the psion was trying to explain it in simple terms. Belatedly I remembered that these Templars had never seen Deshi's injuries at the hands of the Hellhounds, not with their own eyes. That could have made a difference.

Now, we needed to climb beneath the hot Sun to the highest point closest to that golden ball. Even better than sweeping the entire city. I planned to stop at the well on my way up.

******

Gavin decided to pick up his three Hellhounds to help with the search and we started from where Deshi had left me and Jael. I began to wonder why Deshi's Guild brothers had not simply followed the physical sign as they were trained? Even if the Yungian had some training on how not to leave an obvious trail, distracted as he'd been when he left would have suggested a few mistakes here and there, at least.

I got my answer quickly, and it baffled me only at first.

"No trace beyond this point," Mourn said, his tongue flicking constantly to taste the air.

"He passed through low objects at will, as I recall," Gavin said. "That would easily disrupt any trail he might leave behind, would it not?"

We nodded in agreement. No place to go but up.

There was a clearer path to lead us there, well-used by the Manalara to swiftly reach the lookout tower at the top; none of us saw a reason to take the raw stone path quite yet. Hopefully we might see something unusual from the path, or we could start at top and work our way down.

At first I was fairly certain the only thing that kept Mourn from outstripping us during that climb was having his very old familiar on his shoulder. Jael and I stubbornly tried to keep up while Gavin would not be hurried beyond an efficient, long stride. He did try to send the three Hellhound corpses ahead of him but as soon as the wind shifted, those of us with much more sensitive noses complained.

"Goddess! Don't keep them near me!" Jael said, plugging her nose. "They reek!"

I did the same as I kept my mouth closed against a suddenly roiling stomach. I didn't have much to throw back up but I wanted to keep those morsels all the same.

"They are rotting," Mourn commented.

"Of course they are," Gavin said and an eye roll here would have been fitting to his tone, though he chose to skip it. "They are twice-raised and have been in more than one conflict. I didn't revive them for their looks, so sooner or later the flesh will drop off. Would skeletons be less offensive to your senses?"

Walking skeletons. That was as weird image. I hadn't thought about those since the time I spent with Gavin avoiding the sentries outside Sarilis's Tower.

"Probably," I said.

"Sooner or later?" Mourn asked. "How long?"

Gavin shrugged. "The normal time it takes flesh to decompose, unless I take some action to shorten it."

"Something to consider doing, perhaps," the hybrid said with nostrils and tip of his tail twitching along with Graul's.

"They can't just eat flesh like the mare?" I asked cautiously.

My ally shook his head no. "A different ritual. It wasn't certain they'd survive the battle so why waste resources?"

Mourn gestured for us to keep climbing. "If you will, keep them back, Deathwalker. And we will be mindful of the wind changing."

The hybrid's tongue flicked out regularly while Gavin's unnatural eyes ceaselessly scanned the slopes. After testing out each other's search-speed, we found a middle ground somewhere and stayed closer together until there was a reason to split up. The Hellhounds probably wouldn't be used until we reached the top.

Me, I didn't know how Isboern detected thoughts at some distance from himself but for a while I tried to "listen" as if straining some inner ear. Eventually, when I wasn't paying attention and actually bumped into Jael, I went back to what I knew when trying to locate someone: be observant, use the senses I already knew how they worked, think like the one trying to hide. If Deshi wanted to be found, he would probably be somewhere visible at the top. If he didn't, then it would just take a little more time finding the hole into which he had crawled.

There were plenty of loose stones on the beaten dirt path with shorter, more scraggly trees and shrubs providing less shade. Few of them were kicked or jostled by accident as, by unspoken agreement, we decided not to announce our little parade. I noticed more of a pale yellow in the stone and a lighter, dusty brown in the dirt up here compared to the darker grey of the quarry and the darker soil around it in the forests.

Though I spied several nests, all seem to have been abandoned for the time being. Considering the relative proximity to when the rift first opened, I couldn't blame them for flying off. It made me wonder how far Pilla had to go get something to eat.

*Wait...*

I clapped my hands suddenly; not very loudly but it may have seemed so when there was nothing appear but the wind. The others turned to look at me.

*Where is Tamuril?* I signed.

Jael blinked at me but immediately followed the thought. *She wasn't with Isboern. And he didn't ask us about her.*

*He knows where she is,* Mourn said. *He is not concerned for her.*

I could not think of one place where the Druid might go wandering around by herself that *wouldn't* concern the Godblood, unless...

*She might be watching Deshi,* I said. *Could explain why Isboern is so certain he is still up here.*

Mourn moved his tail slowly as he considered. *Good thought. Both can cover their tracks but if you spot the falcon or any unusual plant growth, signal.*

Gavin signaled almost immediately, indicating one of the steep areas overlooking the path. *Glimpsed life aura, size of bird. Gone now.*

*Flew which direction?*

*Up and back.*

The South side with the sheerest cliffs, of course.

*We go up,* was all Mourn could really say.

I had enough water but began to be concerned about how much of the mountain we still had to climb, even on a pre-made path. It was taller than it appeared from Temple-level and I still had to make it back down before I might see any of those supplies that were supposed to be coming. That Gavin saw only one life aura of any appreciable size so far on this dryer, harder mountain head, and that it might be one I was ill-advised to eat, then... I was not looking forward to the hunger pangs.

I hoped we found Deshi or even Tamuril quickly once we reached the top.

The air was in constant motion and while I had long understood this to be because of rising closer to an unobstructed Sky, I could admit I was a little surprised how much the wind buffeted me once we finally reached the crown of the mountain. It maintained one direction for the most part, thankfully, so we could position Gavin's servants to be the least distracting for us. I looked around.

The peak was the narrowest part but would still require a few minutes to circumscribe the area, even at a jog. We had found a space which looked to me like some kind of working pad, long ago cleared out of notable vegetation and the largest stones being put to good use for basic shelter in the lookout tower rather than make the ground difficult to navigate for horses and carts, or Men in armor. Some abandoned equipment and damaged crates remained from the attack, but anyone who had been up here when the Temple fell had probably wandered down or fallen straight off the cliffs by now. It was empty of any corpses.

With the strong wind making my cloak flap, it did not seem as hot or humid up here though the Sun did beat more intensely on my black clothing. Each of us took in some water then, the sliver of shade provided by the watchtower a most tempting place to go, for all of us. I wished I had a pellet I could swallow specifically for headaches caused by the Sun.

"We will clear the tower first," Mourn said, indicating Graul. "I will give you a signal if he is there. Each of you search in the three directions looking down."

We agreed, and I picked West while Jael took East and Gavin went North with his three spreading out as if to comb the cliffs. We moved out in the open in that barren perimeter, looking for sign that could've been from either Druid or Ku Ba. The path up had curved two-thirds the way around the mountain already, taking the path of least resistance, so it was likely if either had been watching from above and we did not see them, and they were not in the tower, then they had moved somewhere between here and there.

I saw nothing of note but could not help but look out much farther out, where the steep hills eventually evened out onto those lush, rolling fields we had run across getting here. I looked even farther, knowing eventually they would meet the large river flowing south of Augran out of the Great Lake. Somewhere beyond that was the first spine of mountains which I had skipped on my way here, sailing upon the Lake with Mourn from out of the thick timber forest where Mother had been infecting everything. Jael would have traveled those mountains to get this far, though, and she would know them if we had to go back through them again. Maybe Vesram had gone in that direction, too, sensing home beyond the flat, stormy Mid Way...

My Sister clapped her gloved hands once, hard, a muffled pop quickly stripped by the wind. I turned around and crossed the working pad, trying to glance up as was my instinct to do, though the brightness truly was miserable up here. Gavin had not seemed to hear her as he still stood facing North, looking down at the mutilated city as if studying something very interesting. I would call out to him if necessary but first I wanted to see what Jael saw. Mourn was leaving the tower as well to join us; it must be clear inside as he answered her signal with no gesture of his own when he saw me.

*Down there,* Jael signed as we stepped on either side of her. *Beneath the overhang.*

I could hear it immediately. Very soft, feminine singing, a note here or there obscured by the air rushing past my ears, but soothing nonetheless. Tamuril.

Mourn lifted his chin, opening his throat, and breathed in slowly with his tongue pressed just behind his teeth; Graul did the same. They both nodded. Deshi was there, too.

I glanced back at Gavin to see if he had noticed us standing here yet. He had not; he still stared down at the city and his servants stood dumbly without anything to do. If not for his hands, the tips of his fingers tapping against his thumb, I might have thought him in another trance with his mistress. But no, he was thinking about something in particular, and I wanted him to finish it. He could catch up, or Mourn could move on him if he chose to leave the mountain top. I looked at the other two.