The Eighth Warden Ch. 027-028

Growing frustrated, Ellerie waited until the man with the axe swung once more, then she dashed closer and tried to jab at his face, hoping to hit his eyes or his neck or anything her sword could penetrate. It left her open to his attacks, so after striking at him once and leaving a cut along his cheek, she dodged back out of range before he could swing again.

She was starting to get into a rhythm, a quick stab to the man's face after each swing of his axe, but then there was a blur to her right and Boktar ran into him, bashing him with his shield. When the man fell, Boktar swung his warhammer down at his head. Ellerie winced and looked away.

"How are you?" she asked, panting with exertion.

"Fine. You?"

"Yes."

They looked around at the battlefield. Only one of the red-eyed men was still standing, and even as they watched, Corec swung his huge sword at the man's torso, cutting deep into the armor.

With the last opponent down, Corec walked back toward them. Shavala joined him, riding by his side as she glanced around, an arrow still nocked to her bow.

"Is that all of them?" Corec asked.

"I think so," Ellerie replied.

"Then I will search for the horses," Shavala said. "Come, Willowbranch, let's find your friends." She and her horse trotted off.

"What just happened?" Boktar said. "Why were their eyes glowing?"

Before anyone could answer, they heard a shout. "Hey! Help!" It was Katrin's voice.

When Ellerie looked that way, she saw Treya slumped over the other woman's body, not moving.

#

Katrin slowly opened her eyes. She wasn't sure why she'd been asleep—she had a nagging feeling that she was supposed to be doing something, but she couldn't remember what. Her head hurt for some reason, and when her fuzzy vision cleared, she found Treya leaning over her.

"How are you feeling?" the other girl asked. "Are you all right?"

"Are you?" Katrin replied. Treya's face was gray and her lips were blue.

"I've never used this much healing magic before. You're lucky Boktar didn't need any more healing this morning, or I might not have been able to manage it."

"Something attacked us, didn't it? But I don't remember how I got hurt."

"It was more of those red-eyes. You fell off your horse and hit your head."

"The red-eyed men? Again? Why are they attacking us?"

The blonde girl didn't respond. Instead, her eyes rolled up, and she collapsed over Katrin's chest.

"Hey!" Katrin shouted. "Help!"

She heard the sound of running boots and jangling armor, and then Corec was there, lifting the healer off of her.

"Are you all right?" he asked her. "What happened?" He passed Treya off to Boktar so he could kneel down and gently hug Katrin's shoulders, then kiss her forehead.

"I don't know. She just fell over."

"It's drain shock," Ellerie said, examining the girl's face as she lay in Boktar's arms. "Wrap her in blankets. Bobo, get a fire started. We'll have to stay here for today."

"Help me up," Katrin said. Corec helped her to sit so she could lean back against him. She couldn't see everyone from where she sat. "Where's Shavala?"

"She's fine," he said. "She's behind us, trying to track down the horses." He turned to Ellerie. "What's drain shock? Lodarin mentioned it, too."

"It's what happens when you use more magic than your body can handle. I didn't know it could happen to priests, though—I was always told their blessings prevented it."

"Will she be all right?"

"She should be. If it's like a wizard's drain shock, she'll be up and around by tomorrow, but we'll have to take it easy for a day or two, and she shouldn't try to use any magic for the next several days."

Boktar had gotten Treya bundled up in several blankets, then left her laying on her bedroll with Bobo looking after her. The dwarf returned to the group.

"What were those things?" he said.

"They looked human, except for the red eyes," Ellerie said. "But they're not red anymore."

"We've run into them before," Corec said. "A squad of seven, just outside Dalewood."

"Dalewood?" Ellerie asked.

"A town east of Four Roads."

"That's a long way from here. What are they?"

"I have no idea. It was the same as this time—they attacked with no warning, and they never said anything. I shouldn't have killed that last one. Maybe he could have answered some questions."

"Where did they come from?" Boktar said. "We should find their camp."

"We weren't able to find a camp last time, but we didn't look all that hard."

"Bandits?" Ellerie asked.

"The last group carried badges, so I think they work for somebody. I can't imagine that the same group of bandits working near Dalewood would also be working around Circle Bay, but I don't know of any other groups of armed men who'd be doing that, either."

"And bandits wouldn't explain the red eyes," Boktar said. "Is it a magic thing?"

Ellerie raised an eyebrow. "A magic thing?"

"A spell or whatever."

"An illusion spell could make their eyes glow red, but why?"

"To scare their opponents?" Corec suggested.

"I suppose, but it doesn't seem very effective. There are much better uses for illusions."

"Maybe the spell does something else," Boktar said. "I don't like the way they fought. They didn't work as a group, and their movements were off. And if they wanted to ambush us, why didn't they bring bows? They could have taken us all out easily if they'd gotten my horse and Corec's while we were riding. The rest of you don't wear any bloody armor—you'd make easy targets."

"They don't know how to use their shields, either," Corec said. "I noticed that the last time. They caught me without my armor, and that was the only thing that saved me."

Ellerie looked at him suspiciously. "Are they after you?"

He shrugged. "As far as I know, the only people who are mad enough at me to send armed men after me are right here. If you didn't send them and Treya didn't send them, then I don't think I'm their target." He looked down at Katrin. "You didn't send them, did you?"

"No," she said, then winced. "Don't make me laugh. It hurts my head."

"Sorry."

"I'm going to search the men, then look for their camp," Boktar said.

Corec said, "I'll help."

"Help me stand up first," Katrin said. "I'll watch over Treya so she doesn't get too hot lying so close to the fire."

"I'll make a soup," Ellerie said. "When she wakes up, she'll be hungry, but she'll need to start with something light."

"Thank you."

#

As the view in Yassi's scrying orb faded away, she looked up at her master. "The hunters have failed again, Your Highness."

He growled, his eyes flaring red before they faded back to normal. "This is ludicrous. We're too far away. It takes weeks for the hunters to reach him, and you and I are wasting half our time trying to keep them on track. We need another option."

Or it could be because you attacked in broad daylight, while your target was armed and armored, and surrounded by others, Yassi thought to herself. She was required to serve her master faithfully, but he hated to have his mistakes pointed out. He had little understanding of armed combat, having spent his life learning to master his magic.

"Horses," she suggested instead, knowing he'd already rejected the idea.

"The hunters would eat them if we didn't keep a constant watch. Besides, the hunters can run twenty hours a day if I don't let them stop to feed. That's faster than a horse can go. No. I need to find some other way to transport them, and until then, we'll look for a closer target. Have you had any success in finding the others?"

"I still believe there's one to the north, hidden within the wards I haven't been able to penetrate. As for the rest, I need something more to go on. If they're scattered around the world, I may not have the strength to reach them."

"I'd hoped to get the new one before he came into his powers, but the one to the north is closer. We can send a larger group. Four squads."

"Once they pass the wards, I won't be able to see them," Yassi said.

"It's only a scrying ward, yes?"

"I think so, but I have no way to see if there are other wards farther in."

"If it's a scrying ward, then my orders should still hold, but the hunters aren't smart enough to adapt, and I can't issue new orders if you can't tell me what's happening. I need to send someone with them. Your brother?"

Yassi scowled. It was her brother who had gotten her into this mess. "Him? Why?"

"He's a seer like you, even if he hasn't trained it. Once he's through the wards, he might be able to find the man I'm looking for. And he can watch from a distance, so if the hunters fail, he can bring word back to me. Send for him, and let him know what I wish for him to do."

"Yes, Your Highness."

"And Yassi, keep a close watch on the new one. If he comes closer, let me know."

###

Book 1 Epilogue

The dream felt real. Corec walked in the endless mists, trying to peer through them and wondering why he knew it was a dream.

Finally, the mists cleared. A man stood in front of him, nearly as tall as Corec himself. He had brown skin and long black hair tied back behind his head, and a jagged scar on one cheek. He carried a spear in one hand and wore a vest. There were four runes along each of his upper arms. One of the runes on his right arm and three on his left glowed with a white light. The other four looked like dull gray scars burned into the skin.

"Well?" the man said with a heavy accent as he came toward Corec. "What do you have to say for yourself?" He looked young, but he moved and spoke as if he was elderly.

"What do you mean? Who are you? Where are we?"

The man harrumphed. "Six told me there was a new one. There shouldn't be. Not this soon."

He waved his hand between them, and Corec found himself suddenly garbed in the same type of clothing the man wore, leaving his arms bare.

"Who's Six? What are you talking about?"

"Four bonds?" the man said in a disapproving tone as he stared at Corec's runes. "How long ago were you chosen? How old are you?"

Corec glanced down at his left arm. Ellerie's rune hadn't appeared yet in the real world, but in this place, it shone brightly, three quarter-circle arcs of different sizes, facing different directions, none of them teaching each other.

He shook his head to clear it, hoping to bring some semblance of normality. When nothing changed, he said, "I'll answer your questions if you answer mine. Who are you?"

The man glared at him. "I'm the First. Not the first First, of course. She's dead. So's the second. The second First, I mean. I suppose he was the Second before that, but I didn't meet him until he was First. Now you. How old are you? When were you chosen?"

"I'm twenty-two. I don't know what you mean by chosen, and I want your next answer to make some sort of sense. Where are we?"

"We all have our own gifts, don't we? This is mine. You're too young. Why did you bond four so quickly? You must take time and choose carefully, or you'll regret it." The man rubbed one of the scars on his right arm.

"You know what the runes are?"

"You didn't answer my questions," the First said.

"I don't know the answers! I don't know what's going on!"

The man leaned back and squinted at Corec. "We always know. We have to know, or we can't form the bond. When did you learn how?"

"I'm telling you, I have no idea what you're talking about! The runes just appeared. I thought I felt something last time, but I don't know what it is. I never learned how to do it...or not to do it."

"You must have. You created them!"

Even after feeling the spell in his mind when it happened with Ellerie, Corec had held out hope that he somehow wasn't responsible for it. If the crazy man was right, that hope was gone now.

"I didn't do anything," he insisted. "Sometimes I meet someone and my arm starts itching, and then later, the rune appears. Like I said, I think I noticed something last time, but I didn't know what it was until it was done."

"Itching? Why..." The man shook his head and changed the subject. "You're just bonding random people? Without asking first? You're worse than Seven."

"Who's Seven?"

"He was chosen before you. Too soon before you. You, Seven, and Six, all too soon. She's not even three hundred yet. And Seven was only chosen a few years ago. It's not supposed to happen that way. Someone's messing with things."

"What's not supposed to happen? What do the runes do?"

"The runes? They link you. But it's the bond that matters. It enhances magic, yours and theirs."

"Why?"

The man pursed his lips. "That knowledge doesn't come with the choosing. The last First said we were chosen to protect the people, but the people we were meant to protect no longer exist. They scattered after the burning."

Corec felt more lost than he'd been before the conversation began. "The burning?"

The First shook his head. "That's all he said, and that's all I know. I decided to protect my people, instead. The others make their own choices. I'll tell Six she can kill you."

"Wait! What?"

"You can't bond people without their permission."

"I'm not trying to! I don't know how to stop it!"

"Then learn," the man said. "Quickly. Maybe she won't kill you—she doesn't listen to me. None of them do anymore."

"Can I get rid of the runes? End the bond?"

The man peered at him curiously. "Three did it once. Ask her. Or ask Six when she comes to kill you—she knows all sorts of things."

"Where can I find Three?" Corec figured it would be better to talk to the one who wasn't planning to kill him.

"How should I know?" the First said. "I've only met the others here, in this place." He waved his arm again, and the dream ended.

Corec woke in his tent, Katrin still asleep beside him.

#

Fox sniffed the sea air. There'd been too many people in Circle Bay for him to sneak around comfortably, but he'd caught the scents he was looking for outside the city, heading south. Reassured that everything was in place, he'd decided to go exploring. Outside a tiny fishing hamlet, he saw a familiar sight perched on a fallen log.

Raven, is that you? he asked.

The raven cocked its head in a curious fashion, before replying in a voice that creaked with disuse. Yes, Fox, it is I. What brings you here?

I was checking up to make sure things are going according to our plan.

Plan? Raven asked.

Fox sat back on his haunches, dismayed. How could Raven have forgotten?

The plan, Fox said gently. The one that you, Bear, and I made. Do you remember?

I saw Bear, some moons ago, Raven said, ignoring the question.

Is he well?

He can no longer speak. I left him on his mountain, the one with all the berries. He'll be happy there.

Fox felt a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. How is that possible? The people still remember him! Enough of them, at least.

Perhaps not the right ones? Raven suggested, almost sounding like his old self for a moment. Those who seek Bravery follow Pallisur now. As if Bravery and War are the same thing.

Then only two of us remain, Fox said. He wondered whether, when the plan came to fruition, he would remember enough of it to know whether it had worked or not. He hadn't felt his mind slipping...but then, how would he know if it did?

Three. Snake still lives.

That was even more of a shock than Bear. Snake had been forgotten with the others long ago. How had he retained his mind?

Snake? You've seen him?

If Snake was still alive, how had he remained hidden all this time? Why? Was he part of the game? There were too many players and too many schemes for Fox to track them all. He hadn't seen any sign of his most vexing brother—but then, he'd thought Snake had been dead for three thousand years, so he hadn't been looking. Fox wished, not for the first time, that Owl was still around to guide them. Cunning was all well and good, but right now, he would have preferred Wisdom.

Snake? Raven said. I thought he was dead.

But you just said... Fox trailed off. Raven was no longer paying attention to him, and was obviously not in his right mind. Whether Snake lived or not, the plan had already been set in motion. It was too late to change it...and the idea that had made so much sense twenty-eight years ago might end up playing right into someone else's hands.

Fox needed a new plan, one that could react to unexpected events. Perhaps he could learn something from the so-called new gods after all.