The Eighth Warden Bk. 02 Ch. 25-26

Green light glowed down the length of the blade as sparks shot toward his body. He dropped the sword in surprise, and it landed on the floor with a clang.

"Are you all right?" Sarette asked.

"I'm fine, actually. It didn't hurt. I was just expecting it to." He reached down and pulled the cloak away, then grabbed the hilt with his bare hand. Green sparks danced up and down the blade, then streaked across to his body, flitting over his chain shirt. They gradually slowed and stopped, leaving the sword glowing with a pale green light.

"It's like Venni's sword, other than the color," Boktar said. "It still doesn't hurt?"

"No, not at all." Corec grasped the hilt in both hands and took a few practice swings. "It's a little heavier and a little longer than I'm used to, but it's a real sword." It didn't have the parrying hooks that he'd grown to appreciate on his newer sword, but it still had an unsharpened ricasso he could grab to guide the blade with more care. "Sarette, I'm going to hold onto this for a bit, just in case more snow beasts show up. I need a sword, and there aren't any weapon smiths nearby. I'll give it back to your people when we return to Snow Crown." Hopefully it would fit in his sheathe.

"I...guess that would be all right," Sarette said.

Ellerie said, "That next word on the sign, the letter in the middle...is that a perfect circle, or is it stretched out to the sides? It's hard to read this language at an angle."

"It looks stretched out to me," Treya said, checking it from the side.

"Then...Tir Nashis? No, that can't be right. It's got to be..." She thumbed through her translation dictionary. "Tir Navis!" Then her face fell. "Oh, no!"

"What's wrong?" Corec asked.

"I've heard of Tir Navis," Ellerie said, rubbing her temple. "Nobody knows much about it, but its name means Mountain Home, or Land of the Mountains; possibly Land of the Tall Mountains. Which certainly fits this place."

"Then what's the problem?"

"Tir Navis is thought to be one of the first great colonies founded when the Ancients spread out from their homeland. It was the first colony they sent across the ocean. It's no wonder we haven't found Tir Yadar. We've been looking in the wrong place. It's not in Aravor at all." She slumped, appearing as if the life had gone out of her.

"Isn't this good news?" Corec asked. "You had no idea where it was before, and now you know it's across the sea."

"We don't know which sea. Everyone thinks the Ancients came from here, this continent. If they didn't... They sent their colonies out in all directions."

"It's still more than we knew before," Boktar said.

Ellerie stood up straighter. "You're right. I've only been to the libraries in Terevas and Matagor. We can check in Snow Crown, Tyrsall, maybe even Sanvar. Just the fact that Tir Navis exists proves that some of those old records about Tir Yadar must be true. We can still find it."

"Hellooo?" a voice called out in the distance.

"Bobo?" Corec shouted back. "Is that you?"

"Where are you?" the voice called back.

If they could hear him, he must already be close. Corec yelled, "End of the hall!" Then he cast another mage light out through the main door to light the way.

A moment later, Bobo came into the room, carrying one of the regular oil lanterns. He had two books bundled under his arm.

"I've been looking..." He paused, panting. "I've been looking for you for two hours!"

"Is something wrong?"

"No, I was just reading through the book and—why is your sword glowing? Wait, didn't it break when you fought the snow beasts?"

For lack of anywhere else to put it, Corec was still holding the sword braced over his right shoulder. "It's not mine. We found it down here."

"And it's glowing? Magic? Fascinating—you'll have to let me examine it. The first peoples knew how to create enchanted weapons, but I've never managed to get a close look at one. Other than Venni's, but she said she didn't know who made hers."

"We found something else," Ellerie put in. She pointed to the sign.

"High Army of Tir...those letters don't look right. Is that Navis?"

"I think so."

"Hmm, that fits. High Army of Tir Navis, in memoriam, Battle of...I can't read that word; I think it's a different language. Then, the next line has got to be...twelve? Yes. The letters are still wrong, but it's Twelve Year—no, Twelfth Year—of the Reign of King Milos. Never heard of him."

Ellerie sighed. "I meant the part about Tir Navis. Doesn't that suggest something to you?"

"Mountain Home? It makes sense, given where we're at. I don't know much about it, though. Tir Navis isn't mentioned much after its founding. Why?"

"I meant that we're on the wrong continent!"

"Oh! That's what I came down here for." He handed Corec his lantern. "Hold this. Now, let's see..." He opened one of the books, which Corec recognized as the one Ellerie had hired Bobo to translate. "Winged snakes cavort in the air above the meadow," Bobo said.

"What about it?" Ellerie asked.

"Hold on." He switched books, then read, "The feathered serpent resembles a snake with feathery wings. Commonly referred to as a winged snake, it's not a true snake at all, and is, in fact, warm of blood. Adults range from three to four feet in length, with a wingspan of two to three feet. The feathered serpent is only found in the Vansaira region."

"What's that from?"

"Shavala's book on rare wildlife."

"Vansaira region?" Corec asked.

"An old name for Bancyra."

Corec shook his head. That didn't sound familiar either.

"It's east of Nysa."

"The port of Nysa?" Treya asked. "In Cordaea?"

Bobo nodded, grinning widely.

"Do you mean to tell me you found Tir Yadar?" Ellerie exclaimed.

"Well," Bobo said, "the route passes through some part of Bancyra at some point. It's not a lot to go on, but it's more than we had before."

Corec grimaced when Treya glanced his way. They both got sick on boats, and the continent of Cordaea was a long ocean voyage from Tyrsall, across the Gilded Sea.

He said, "If that's the book Shavala found in Tyrsall, the fellow who sold it said he wasn't sure how reliable it is."

"It should be easy enough to find other sources about winged snakes when we get back to Tyrsall," Bobo said. "I assume we'll be returning to Tyrsall now?"

Ellerie still looked stunned, and didn't respond.

Boktar said, "Lanport's closer, and ships sail to Cordaea from there."

"Not in the winter. Besides, there's no library in Lanport. Perhaps we could find someone who's seen a winged snake, but I'd like to have more information than just that. I know almost nothing about any of the lands east of Nysa."

"I have to go back to Tyrsall anyway," Corec said. "I need to tell Yelena about Prince Rusol."

"A good point," Bobo said. "And we'll need to hire a translator, too."

"They don't speak trade tongue?"

"I'm sure a few people do, but I've heard it's not widely used outside of Nysa."

"We need to make plans!" Ellerie said. "How long is the voyage? What will it cost to get there?"

"I think it takes a couple of months," Boktar said. "With nine people, it won't be cheap."

"Eight people, wouldn't it be?" Corec asked. "Nedley's from Tyrsall, so we can leave him there."

"I feel bad for the kid. He doesn't have anyone left except for his brother, who's back in Larso. That is, if he wasn't turned into one of those red-eyed men."

Corec shrugged. "If you have work for him and he wants to come, I don't have a problem with it." Maybe he can take my place, he added silently. He was already feeling seasick just thinking about the trip.

Ellerie said, "Research, ship passage for nine people, mounts... Even if we find a ship large enough for them, we can't take our horses on a two-month journey. They'd need another month to recover afterward. Supplies, for who knows how long. And it'll be hard to find work if we can't speak the language. I don't think I can afford to finance the whole thing."

"I'm running low too," Corec said. "Maybe Yelena will have another job for us."

Ellerie suddenly laughed. "I can't believe we actually know where to go!"

"Cordaea's a big place," Bobo cautioned her. "So is Bancyra. And this passage doesn't indicate at which point in the journey it takes place. We may not be any better off than we were, other than knowing which continent we need to be on."

She nodded. "When we get to Tyrsall, we'll look for any maps that show the mountain ranges, so we can decide where to start."

Bobo said, "The sad part about all this is that we can't publish anything about Tir Navis. Nobody will believe us if we tell them civilization arose outside of Aravor."

"We couldn't have published it anyway," Ellerie pointed out. "The stormborn aren't going to want a bunch of outsiders crawling all over their mountains to find this place. When we find Tir Yadar, that's the proof we'll need."

"Publish?" Corec asked. "You mean writing a book? I thought you were looking for treasure."

Bobo laughed. "I told you before, treasure means different things to different people."

###

Chapter 26

"And the big slimy frog jumped on the—" Katrin sang, then pointed to the boys on her right.

"Rock!" one of them shouted.

She laughed. She'd been expecting lily pad. "And the big slimy frog jumped on the rock—"

She pointed to the girls on her left, who chorused, "and then he fell off!"

She pointed to the boys again. As a group, they yelled out "Plop!" then fell over themselves laughing when Katrin showed them a vision of the frog falling into the pond with a splash.

"How do you make it do that?" one little girl asked.

"I'm a bard, so when I sing something, I can let you see it."

"But how?"

"I...hmm. I don't really know. Anyway, it looks like the food is ready, so you should all go eat."

"Can we sing more later?" a boy asked.

"Well, I'm running out of songs. Do you have some new songs you can teach me?"

"Yes!"

Katrin had spent the morning entertaining the younger children. Luckily, they spoke Eastern; none of them knew trade tongue well enough to sing in it.

With Katrin occupying the children who were too young to watch after themselves, the adults were able to get some work done. The men had divided into groups, cutting firewood, setting rabbit snares, or searching for already seasoned wood that was appropriate for fashioning into bow staves. Shavala had frowned at the snares—she'd convinced Corec to stop using his when she took over the hunting duties—but she'd let them pass without comment.

The women were cooking, or helping Shavala forage, or washing clothing in the bathhouse. The cooks had retreated to the far side of the room once Katrin had started applying her bardic skills to the repetitive children's songs. She couldn't blame them. She'd had fun, but one could only watch various animals fall off of different objects so many times before needing a break. The adults had been more appreciative of her skills the night before, when she'd played for everyone.

Until encountering the refugees, Katrin hadn't spent any time with young children since she'd been one herself. They seemed more resilient than the adults. They knew something was very wrong and they wanted to go home, but unlike their parents, they could forget about it for brief periods of time while they played. None of the children knew how dangerously low the food supplies had gotten, but at least the stormborn patrol was due to arrive soon. The youngest of the children didn't seem aware that half their village was dead, though in some cases, they knew that not all of their friends had come with them when they'd fled Jol's Brook. Katrin was just relieved she could plead ignorance and leave those discussions to the parents.

There was a commotion outside and two of the older boys ran into the building, accompanied by Nedley, who was closer to their age than to the adults. Boktar had told him to watch over the older children, more to give him something to do than out of any real need.

One of the boys shouted, "The mountain lords are here!" That was how the refugees referred to the stormborn when Sarette and Gregor weren't around to hear them.

"Nedley!" Katrin said. "Go find Corec, Sarette, and the others." Everyone had stayed near the camp for the day, waiting for the stormborn patrol.

"Yes, miss!" he replied. "Alfin, Edgar, come on. Split up and we can find 'em faster."

Katrin headed for the door too, but had to wait while the women and children all filed out, more interested in seeing the new group of stormborn than finishing their midday meal.

Outside, Gregor and Tomas had already greeted the patrol, fifteen armed and armored stormborn with ten full supply sleds.

Katrin breathed a sigh of relief. They'd brought enough food for the villagers to return to Jol's Brook safely, and fifteen soldiers would give pause even to snow beasts. She hadn't realized until then how anxious she'd been.

"Will you look at that?" Corec said, coming up behind her and dropping an arm around her shoulders. "If we're attacked again, we have a choice of a spear wall or an entire company of crossbowmen. Hell, we could split them up and do both."

She laughed. Apparently he'd been thinking along the same lines. "Are we going to leave now?"

"I don't know what those soldiers are going to want to do. If I get a vote, I think tomorrow's soon enough to head back to Jol's Brook—or Elmsford, or wherever they'll be able to buy enough supplies. Then we can retrace our route back to Snow Crown and pick up the horses. I think Ellerie and Bobo want to talk to the historians some more before we head out, and I need to buy a new sword and give this one back." He was referring to the strange, glowing sword he'd found below the ruins. It wasn't glowing now, though—only when he drew it. He'd placed it in his old sheathe, attached to the harness on his back, where it stuck up two inches higher than his previous sword.

"What's wrong with Sarette?" Katrin asked. The stormborn woman had joined Gregor and the patrol, but had suddenly stepped back, looking pale, as if she might faint.

#

"Captain," Sarette said, saluting the officer. "Thank you for coming. I'm Lieutenant Sarette. I was the one who signaled for help." She'd arrived while Gregor, Boktar, and Tomas were explaining which items they needed most urgently.

The captain, whose name she didn't know, glanced at her, then turned away and issued orders to his men to start unpacking and distributing the supplies.

Sarette was accustomed to the High Guard not taking her seriously—the ones who knew her history, at least—but she'd never been completely ignored before. There wasn't anything she could do about it, though, without being taken to task for insubordination. She waited to see if the man intended to include her in the orders he was giving.

"Just a moment, Scout," the captain said when Gregor made a move to help haul a crate from one of the sleds. "I'd like you to remain here."

Gregor nodded and waited.

Once everyone else was busy with their tasks, the captain switched to the stormborn language. "Junior Lieutenant Sarette, Senior Scout Gregor, you are both hereby relieved of duty."

Sarette stepped back in shock.

"What?" Gregor exclaimed. "Why?"

"I'm told that you were assigned to accompany the warden's party to South Valley, not to bring an entire village of humans here. And certainly not to make them aware of the watchtowers."

"What were we supposed to do? Leave them to be killed by snow beasts? To go hungry?"

Sarette kept silent. Scouts were outside the traditional chain of command, and with his rank, Gregor could get away with talking back to the captain like that, but she couldn't.

"If you have a defense, you can present it at your trial. In the meantime, I'm taking command of your expedition. Someone's got to clean up your mess."

#

Kartik removed the wrap he'd left around Leena's upper chest, covering her new tattoo. She winced as he gently washed the area.

"Let it get air, but not direct sunlight," he said. "If you're in the sun, wear something loose. Your normal dresses will irritate it."

"I know," she said. "A friend in the city loaned me a blouse."

She didn't have any of her own clothing left anyway, other than the undergarments she'd been wearing when she Traveled from Stone Home to Matihar. After she'd disappeared without paying the rent, her landlord had sold everything she'd owned. She'd had to borrow dresses from Kartik's sisters to prepare for her next journey.

Before checking on her apartment, she'd stopped back at the bakery to tell Sanja and Madi that she wouldn't be able to return to work after all. They'd been concerned, not understanding her odd behavior, but she couldn't bring herself to tell them the truth. She didn't want to break down in front of them. After her experiences of the past few months, it had seemed almost strange to say goodbye rather than simply disappearing again without a word.

She stared at the tattoo in the mirror. The design she'd chosen to signify her blood feud was a dagger above her left breast, aimed toward her heart. With her arms and chest bared, most of her tattoos were visible, but the new one stood out, still red and irritated from the procedure. The unhealed skin lining the ink almost looked like blood along the edges of the blade.

Aruna entered the tent, frowning when she caught sight of the tattoo. "Please reconsider, Leena. We just got you back! Udit needs you here!"

"And I need to know that he's safe! That I'm safe! What if they come back for us?"

"You don't even know where to find them!"

"I'll ask around until I find someone who recognizes the sigil," Leena said, putting her blouse back on. "I'm taking one of the knives with me. I'll check with the other camps. I'll search Sanvara City. Whatever it takes."

It might take a long time to find a clue, but Sarlo had taught Leena a few tricks about Seeking.

"Even if you find them, what will you do about it? You're no fighter."

"That's why I'm not looking for them yet. There's somewhere else I need to go first."

"What do you mean?"

Leena closed her eyes. Her plan was to Travel bit by bit until she reached Tyrsall, then ask Sarlo for help. He'd been convinced that his friend could help her master her magic. If she could learn to kill her enemies with Traveling, the way Rohav had done, it would be better than a weapon.

Just as she was about to Seek a safe spot to teleport, she had a completely different thought. Give me a way to avenge my parents' deaths, a way to defeat my enemies, a way to protect my brother.

The Seeking failed. Either she wasn't strong enough or she wasn't close enough.

Then show me where I need to be next to do so.

It shouldn't have worked, but it did. There was a faint twinge, north by northeast. She checked the compass and map she'd borrowed from Rohav. She could only Seek a short distance, and she couldn't see where it would take her next, but the sensation was coming roughly from the direction of Tyrsall. Even her new plan might be sending her to Sarlo, which just strengthened her resolve. There was a safe Traveling spot within her Seeking range. It would take over a month to get to Tyrsall that way, but it was safer than trying to teleport to a city she'd never been to.

Leena folded up the map and put it and the compass in her new travel pack, then slung the pack over her right shoulder, avoiding the tattoo on her left side.

"Goodbye, Grandmother," she said. "Say goodbye to everyone else for me, and watch over Udit."

"Wait—" Aruna started.

Leena Traveled.

#

Once again, Rusol woke in a dream world of mists. He growled, looking around for the First. "Where are you?" he shouted.