The Eighth Warden Bk. 03 Ch. 27-28

The girl glowered at her, but then pointed at herself and spoke a rush of sounds.

"Aridna?" Treya attempted.

The girl shook her head and repeated her name, this time more slowly.

"Ariadne?" Treya asked. The girl nodded. "Ariadne, we don't mean you any harm."

Ariadne looked to Bobo, who attempted to translate. She shook her head, apparently not understanding.

Then she disappeared, reappearing behind them and running south out of the throne room.

"Where—" Bobo started, but Treya didn't wait to hear what he said.

She sprinted after the girl, Shavala following her. They caught sight of her in the vestibule, where she'd stopped to stare at the destroyed vases, but before they could reach her, she changed directions and headed east. She ran through a group of rooms Ellerie had suggested looked like administrative offices, and then into an area with a series of residential suites.

She stopped at one in particular, running into the nearly empty room, then shaking her head and covering her eyes. When she looked again, she saw Treya and screamed at her, then launched into another diatribe. This time she sounded nearly hysterical. Tears gathered in her eyes, and her voice cracked as she spoke.

Bobo reached them, panting from the run. "What ..." He stopped to catch his breath. "What do we do now?"

"Tell her ..." Treya trailed off. What could they tell her that would make any sense? "Ask her to come back to the throne room with us so we can talk."

Ariadne seemed to agree, but when they got back to the vestibule, she broke away again, leaving through the main double doors, which had been left open so they didn't lock again.

Outside, though, she stopped, her breath catching in her throat. She gazed across the chamber, at the animal statues and the metal sphere. She was silent for a moment, and then she caught sight of the melted stone on the west side. She shrieked and ran to it, scraping at the substance with her fingers. When that didn't work, she detached the metal scabbard from her armor and used it to pound at the stone.

Ariadne yelled at them, obviously an exhortation to assist her, but she wasn't making any progress with the scabbard and Treya had left the shovel back in the throne room. It wouldn't have done much good anyway—if they were going to dig into solid stone, they would need a lot more help.

Finally, the girl stepped back, dropping the scabbard as her legs gave out beneath her. She collapsed to her knees and stayed there, staring silently at the melted wall.

Treya gave her a moment, then murmured, "Let's see if we can convince her to come back. I don't think she'll talk to us out here. She's too upset."

She offered Ariadne her hand. The girl ignored it at first, but finally pulled herself to her feet. Without speaking, they returned to the throne room. Marco and Razai were there waiting for them.

"There you are," Marco said. "Where did these lights—" His eyes widened when he caught sight of Ariadne.

"So, she didn't kill you after all," Razai said. "What does she have to say for herself?"

"We can't understand her," Bobo said. "Not much, anyway."

Ariadne glared suspiciously at the newcomers, but then her attention was drawn to the blanket lying at their feet. She blinked out of sight and reappeared next to them, snatching up a simple necklace made of copper links that rested there amongst the other objects.

"Hey, wait!" Marco exclaimed.

She disappeared again, then showed up in front of Treya. Draping the necklace over her own head, she grabbed Treya's hand.

Treya felt a sudden overwhelming weakness. She stumbled to the side, and Bobo caught her, steadying her shoulders. Ariadne didn't let go. She, too, seemed to be affected, her other hand clutching her head as she winced in pain.

And then Razai was there, forcing them apart. She tripped Ariadne and pushed her to the ground, then drew her knives.

"Wait!" Treya said. The word seemed to echo.

Razai spun to face her, her fangs bared. "Wait for what?" she asked with a snarl. "Wait for her to kill you?"

And then Ariadne spoke. "Who are you?" she demanded loudly in the Eastern tongue. "Where is everyone?" She stood up while everyone stared at her in surprise.

"You can understand us?" Bobo asked.

She pointed to the copper chain around her neck. "Why are there humans and elves in the fortress? I don't recognize you. What happened?"

Treya said, "We're not here to hurt you. This is Razai and Marco. If you didn't hear our names earlier, I'm Treya, and this is Shavala and Bobo."

"I don't care about your names! Answer my questions! What happened to Fortress West? Where are the kni ..." She stopped and screwed her eyes tightly shut, shaking her head. Then she looked at them again. "Where are the knights?"

"I'll try to answer your questions, but we don't know what happened. We found you here in the room with the caskets ... the room with the metal tubes. You were sleeping."

"The stasis room ... you're the one who hit me!"

"I had to. You were trying to kill my friend and he didn't want to hurt you."

"A human shouldn't have been in Fortress East without a badge of rank, whether he's a war mage or not. None of you should be here! I ... the knights, I saw..." She swayed. "The Mage Knights! What happened to them?"

"Who are the Mage Knights?" Bobo asked.

Treya suspected what the answer would be, but was reluctant to say it.

"Everyone knows of the Mage Knights!" Ariadne exclaimed. "I saw ... I thought I saw ... no! Where are the others?"

"Do you mean the people who were in the room with you?" Treya asked.

"Yes! We all went into stasis together."

With Corec on the surface, Treya had to be the one to tell her. They were the only two who'd been there.

"There were nine other people in that room wearing the same armor as you, but they didn't survive," she said as gently as she could.

Ariadne closed her eyes and bowed her head. "Then only two others lived? They told us the stasis pods would keep us safe."

"We don't know what happened to the others. The rest of the room was empty."

"They must be nearby," the girl insisted, opening her eyes and looking up again. "They wouldn't have gone far. What happened to Fortress West? Where is everyone? Did the ritual fail? I don't feel any different."

"What ritual?" Bobo asked.

Ariadne glared. "Everyone knows about the ritual! The one to combine the four sources."

"Four sources?"

"Sources of magic! There's only supposed to be one now, but I still feel two."

"I don't know anything about that," Bobo said. "We're not from here. Can you tell me who your people are?"

The girl stared at him, confused. "My people? The People! I mean, The Peop ..." She stopped, looking frustrated. She grabbed the necklace in her hand, then slowly said, "The Chosar! All these lands are ours, from the sea to the sea and farther! All know this! Where is everyone? Why are you here?"

"We came to explore this place, but you're the only person we've seen here," Treya said. "Do you know what happened?"

"The only person? What nonsense is this? You've been caught somewhere you don't belong, so you make up lies?"

"I'm telling you the truth. We came here to—"

Bobo interrupted her. "Is this Tir Yadar?" he asked the girl.

"Of course it's Tir Yadar!" she replied, giving it a slightly different pronunciation. "No! You've taken me somewhere else. A fake fortress! That's why The People aren't here. Where am I?"

"You're in Tir Yadar," Razai cut in. "It's been abandoned for thousands of years, and you're the only person we've found. The Chosar are long gone. Hardly anyone has ever even heard of them."

Everyone froze at those words. Treya shot her a frustrated glare. "Razai!"

"What?" Razai said to her. "You were just making it worse, dragging it out like that. She deserves to know." There was a hint of compassion in her voice. "It would have been better if you'd let me ..." She growled and stalked off without finishing the sentence.

"You have eyes like a demon!" Ariadne called after her. "You tell lies. You all tell lies!"

"No, it's the truth," Treya said. "Bobo's a historian, and there's another, Ellerie. We came here with them searching for the remains of Tir Yadar, and we found you."

"The dust ..." the girl said, trailing her gauntlets across the grime on the wall. "No. It's a lie." She didn't sound so certain anymore.

"I'm sorry. We don't know what happened, but it looks like everyone left. The city's empty."

"My parents? My sisters?"

"I don't know," Treya said. Of course, she did know. Even if Ariadne's family survived whatever had happened to this place, they'd certainly died long since.

The girl seemed to realize it anyway, slumping down against the wall, her armor scratching across the stone. She sat on the floor and stared straight ahead, ignoring any further attempts to talk to her.

#

"How does it fit?"

"It's a little tight, but it'll do," Leena said, coming out from behind the wagon where she'd changed clothes. All the tents had already been packed up.

"Is that a tattoo?" Katrin asked, peering at her upper chest.

"Yes." Leena didn't elaborate. The other woman's dresses were less modest than her own. This one had long sleeves, but it showed a bit of cleavage—more on Leena than it did on Katrin. The Zidari weren't body-shy, but they kept their tattoos covered around outsiders.

"Why a dagger?"

"It's to mark my blood feud against the men who murdered my parents," Leena said curtly.

"Oh. I'm sorry."

"No, I'm sorry—I didn't mean to be rude, but my tattoos are private. I don't like people to see them."

"You have more than one? Never mind, you don't have to answer. Wait here, I'll go find one of Shavala's scarves to cover it up." She was back a moment later, and helped Leena drape the scarf around her neck and chest.

Leena breathed easier once the tattoo was hidden. She thanked Katrin and apologized again for snapping at her, then went to find Ellerie and Corec.

"I'm ready," she told them.

"I wish you wouldn't go," Ellerie said, running her fingers across the back of Leena's hand.

"I need to find out if it's them," Leena replied, returning the gesture. It was the only intimacy they allowed themselves. They'd never spoken of it, but Ellerie seemed to understand that Leena wouldn't allow herself to be distracted from her task.

Corec didn't notice the interchange. "Do you know how to recognize the red-eyes?" he asked.

Leena thought back to the stories Ellerie had told her about the encounters. "They have armor like Nedley's, and their eyes are red. They glow red, I mean."

"Look for the armor; don't get close enough to see their eyes. They also don't speak, and they act strange—not like people."

"Do you need a light?" Ellerie asked, picking up a rock and whispering the indistinct words to a spell. The rock started glowing. "You could cover it up with something when you get close."

Corec shook his head. "It's dark enough out that they'll see it."

"I think I'll be all right without it," Leena said. They'd asked her to wait until it was fully dark out before she left, so there'd be less chance of being spotted. There was a sliver of moonlight, though. Perhaps it would be enough.

"I'm not sure this is a good idea," he said. "I can't tell you what to do, but it seems too dangerous. It would be different if it was Sarette or Razai, but you're not a fighter. We still have plenty of time to figure out who they are."

"But you want to know now, don't you?"

Corec exhaled. "Yes. If they're just passing by, we can ignore them. Mostly. But if they're coming here, we need to set up defenses."

"Then I'll go. If there's trouble, I'll teleport away. I've had plenty of practice now. If something happens, you'll know where to find me."

He nodded. "Good luck. We'll send the wagons on ahead to the old ruins, but I'll wait here for you."

"I can find you wherever you go," she reminded him.

"Oh, right. Well, I've still got to fetch the others from inside the mountain as soon as we're done here, so I'll stay anyway."

"Don't get too close," Ellerie told her.

Leena nodded, then Traveled, ending up in almost complete darkness. She had to wait for her eyes to adjust. She'd gotten used to the mage lights that lit up the camp each night.

She'd teleported to a spot over a mile away from the visitors, so she couldn't see them yet. She started off east toward their camp, but after barely a dozen yards, she slipped on a rock she hadn't seen. The slender crescent moon helped her make out her surroundings, but objects on the ground were still indistinct. Testing her weight on her ankle, she considered how to proceed. Should she go back and get the mage light from Ellerie after all? How close could she get to the visitors before it was seen?

Then the answer occurred to her. She allowed her warden rune to shine. She was able to hide it now most of the time, though it sometimes reappeared if she wasn't paying close attention. Now, she let it show on purpose. The pale blue glow wouldn't carry as far as a mage light did, and it provided just enough illumination for her to see where she was putting her feet.

Her ankle seemed fine, so she continued east. Sounds echoed over the barren landscape, growing steadily louder as she approached—people talking and shouting and laughing. Finally, after nearly half an hour, she could see movement ahead of her.

She immediately hid her rune again and crept closer in the dark. It can't really be them, she tried to convince herself. None of the trained Seekers had been able to find the men who'd attacked the Zidari, so she certainly wouldn't be able to. But then, she hadn't been Seeking those men—not this time, at least. She'd tried it before, and had failed like all the other Seekers.

But this time, she'd simply been looking for a group of people to the southeast, within her Seeking range. Would that change things? It shouldn't, as far as she was aware. A warding against scrying should block all scrying. But the more she learned about her abilities, the more she realized she didn't know. She hadn't been trained as a Seeker—she'd hardly even been trained as a Traveler.

The camp was mostly dark. Like Leena's companions, this group hadn't found any firewood in the barrens, or brought any with them. There was a light hovering over a large, square tent that was tall enough to stand up in. Leena had seen enough mage lights by now to recognize one. A wizard? Ellerie and Corec would want to know that.

She stayed well away from the light, not wanting to risk being seen. Instead, she decided to circle around the camp to see if she could find anything else useful.

Her first impression was that it was much too big. The talking and shouting were constant, coming from the numerous small groups scattered around. She couldn't understand what they were saying. They were speaking Nysan, she thought, the same language spoken elsewhere in southern Cordaea.

Why had such a large group entered the barrens? A trading caravan would have gone around, and she hadn't seen any sign of horses or mules.

There was movement in the darkness ahead of her and she stopped, her heart pounding. A bulky figure, but she'd only seen it because it blocked her view of the stars in the night sky. The figure walked away from the camp, then turned and walked back. The mage light briefly reflected off the metal bands of a shield.

An armed guard. Not unusual, but Leena hadn't considered the idea until he'd been right in front of her. She crept farther away from the camp before continuing her circuit.

There were several boxy shapes just beyond the southernmost cluster of tents. After checking for more guards, Leena crept closer for a better look. The shapes turned out to be hand-drawn carts, which must have been how the group was hauling their supplies. Without animals to feed, they didn't need to carry as much as Leena's companions did.

She was between two of the carts when someone else walked past in the dark. She froze, hoping he hadn't seen her, then ducked down after he'd passed by. It wasn't an armed guard this time, but just a man going out to water the dirt.

She stayed down and waited until he returned. He was wearing simple, sturdy clothes, and had a knife on his belt. It was too dark to get a good look at it.

Back in the camp, he sat down with several others who also wore simple clothing. Next to them was a boisterous group of men with armor and weapons. The two groups didn't mingle, and appeared to be ignoring each other.

Then, farther in, someone walked past the mage light, making it easier to see his features. He looked like a Sanvarite, but he wore long sleeves. His shirt was laced up to his neck. A Zidari? What would another Zidari be doing all the way out here?

Except for him, the group reminded Leena of the men who'd attacked them outside Tir Shar. She'd know for certain if she could just get a closer look at the knife she'd seen, but she couldn't think of any way to do that without alerting the camp to her presence.

She Traveled back, finding just Corec and Ellerie. The others were gone, along with the wagons, heading back to the ruined buildings south of the mountain.

"How did it go?" Ellerie asked, relief in her voice.

Leena relayed what she'd seen.

"Carts?" Corec asked. "What did they look like?"

"Two-wheeled, hand-drawn. They were half full, but I couldn't risk looking through them."

"And no animals, you said?"

"None that I saw, just a lot of men. If the rest of the camp is like the eastern and southern sides, there must be over a hundred of them."

He nodded. "That could be trouble, especially if the knife you saw is one of those snake knives, but the carts will give us a chance to watch them more carefully. They won't be able to go more than ten or fifteen miles a day with those. We'll have time to get ready."