A Guardian of Shadows (Revenant Wyrd Book 4) Read online

  "But Guardian, you need safety," Chyang said.

  "Later. Once our dead are at rest in the marshes so their spirits can find peace, then we will seek safe harbor."

  "Where, Guardian?" Ling asked.

  "Wherever the Goddess takes us," he whispered, his eyes focused on the west, where the black-winged figure had retreated.

  Cianna had never seen a rojo so big before. She assumed there was one in the Guardian's Keep in the Realm of Earth, but she had never seen it. All she knew about rojos was that one was built into the telfetch, like the one she carried. She had heard there were larger ones that could teleport people, and sometimes even larger things, from one place to another, but she had never actually seen one.

  The one she stood before in the dark chamber beneath the Guardian’s Palace was crafted expertly, a kind of triple arch made of green soapstone. She was certain there were symbols, and maybe even words, carved into the edges of each arch, but in the darkness of the chamber, she couldn't see them. Cianna knew so little about wyrd that originally she thought maybe a certain kind of metal had to be used, to help augment the wyrd of the rojo, but she was evidently wrong.

  From the depths of the rojo there was a glowing blue light, like a candle flame, tossing insubstantial light on the bars of the arch beside it, but not strong enough to reach the crosspieces high above.

  Cianna heard the chatter of people behind her, and turned to see the torchlight coming down the spiral stairs into the basement room. She wasn't sure why they kept the rojo in the basement of a shed behind the palace, but then again, she didn't know where they were normally kept. Having never seen evidence of the one in the Realm of Earth, maybe they were all kept in out-of-the-way places.

  Azra led Flora, Pi, Chy, and Deven, who was carrying Clara, to a stop beside Cianna.

  “Well, this is where we part ways,” Flora told her.

  Cianna felt a heaviness in her heart. She had never wanted to meet up with these people in the first place, staying away from their camp that night until they had asked her to join them, but now that she had gotten to know them, Cianna didn't want to see them go.

  “You can't stay there, you know, you don't belong!” Cianna said.

  Flora nodded. “I belong in the north. I've never cared for the Realm of Fire, it was always too unforgiving. The north holds my heart. We will make it there at some point.”

  “We need to check on the school anyway,” Pi said.

  “We should never have left,” Devenstar said, reiterating what his teacher had said the day before.

  “Leaving was the best thing you could have done,” Azra told them. “All you knew was that the school had been attacked, and it could have been by caustics, wyrd hunters, or alarists. You were smart to run — there was no telling how far the danger would spread, or if it would track you down.”

  Flora nodded.

  “You are welcome at the Guardian's Keep. You are my friends; Sara and Annbell will treat you well and give you a place to stay,” Cianna pleaded.

  “We just might do that,” Flora told her.

  “But for now, you must be on your way,” Azra told them. “They are waiting for you in the Desert of the Trostly'n.”

  Flora nodded and smoothed down the front of her dress.

  Azra stepped forward and held out her hand. A tendril of her red wyrd licked out toward the ball of light in the center. When it made contact, the spark within the rojo flared brightly, encompassing the entire space within the archway.

  On the other side Cianna could see the desert, twisted with wind. In the image beyond she could see tents and people, even a woman on the other side waving at them. Apparently they could see this side as well.

  “Any news on when we can come back, Guardian?” the woman asked.

  “Not yet, Gloria,” Azra told her, and then smiled. “When I know, you will be the first to hear. How is the desert treating you?”

  “It is much better behind the barrier than it would have been outside, you were right about that.”

  When Gloria made mention of the barrier, Cianna could see the hazy red shield in the background, wyrded most likely, stretching up and out of sight. She figured it was probably a dome that kept all within it safe.

  “This isn't goodbye,” Flora said, grabbing hold of Cianna. “You do what you need to do. Find us when you are done and we will see about coming home with you, okay?”

  Cianna nodded and hugged the old lady back. She didn't trust herself with words, so she closed her eyes and poured her love through her arms into the older sorceress. Cianna thought there might be some good in this band of sorcerers coming back to the Guardian's Keep with her. If the chaos dwarves attacked, that would mean extra help. But what if they use Wyrders' Bane? she thought. It wasn't so much a question of if they would use the weapon, but when. She was sentencing all of these people to pain and suffering, maybe death. Or worse: the destruction of their wyrd.

  Finally they released one another, and Flora stepped through. There was a ripple in the space between the arches, and for a moment Flora vanished from sight before reappearing on the other side next to Gloria.

  The rest of them hugged Cianna, and with similar well-wishes, stepped through the rojo and into the safety of the sorcerers’ refuge beyond.

  When they were all safely on the other side, Azra let her power slip from the rojo. As the image within faded out to nothing but the small orb of light, she turned to Cianna.

  “No rojo connects you to the Necromancers’ Mosque, but you can take the path up the Barrier Mountains that starts at the edge of the city. From there, your link to the Mosque should guide you.”

  “You've done this a lot?” Cianna asked.

  Azra smiled, and motioned for Cianna to follow her up the stairs.

  “I've been Realm Guardian here longer than any other Guardian has held their seat. I've seen my share of necromancers come and go, all seeking their destination. I've come to learn that the path within the walls of my own city will lead them to where they wish to go.”

  The light of day nearly blinded Cianna when they stepped out of the shed. She winced away from it, and Azra smiled at her.

  “Is there anything you require? I know no guards can go with you, but do you need food or water?” Azra asked her.

  “I think I have enough rations, but water would be nice to have,” Cianna told her.

  “Then it will be with your packs once you are ready to leave. I’m sorry to cut this short, but of late the other Realm Guardians and I have been in constant conversation about what is going on in the realms, and I really need to get back to that. I hope you understand,” Azra said.

  “Of course; there's darkness coming. When you mentioned the threat in the west yesterday I felt out for it, and I can feel it now. It’s like a plague on my mind. It won't leave me.”

  Azra grabbed her hands, and Cianna wasn't sure if the Guardian was working some bit of wyrd on her or if it was just her presence, but she felt a calm settle through her.

  “We aren't prepared to face it yet. We weren't expecting anything, and these random attacks on the realms are what we need to focus on now. Annbell tells us that the chaos dwarves gather?”

  Cianna nodded.

  “We need to do all we can to help the north. If the chaos dwarves overthrow the government there, darkness will have a foothold in the realms. We can't allow that to happen again. Whatever this is, we need to meet it before it consumes us blindly, as it did when your mother and aunt walked the realms.”

  Sometimes it was surprising to Cianna that people still remembered her mother and her aunt. She had to tell herself all the time that the time of the twin flames wasn't long ago.

  “Yes, they need to be faced and put down,” Cianna agreed.

  “We cannot destroy the race completely, but maybe we can cripple them to the point it would take them many ages to recover,” Azra said.

  Cianna nodded. “The realm wouldn't like that.”

  “The realms charge us
Guardians not only with the safekeeping of our humans, but also the races within our borders.”

  “What would happen if you disobeyed?” Cianna wondered aloud. Azra placed her hand on the necromancer's elbow and steered her toward the back entrance of the Guardian's Palace. She parted the emerald curtains and ushered Cianna into the cool embrace of the structure. The back entrance was nothing more than a narrow hallway lined with doors to the servants’ suites. The corridor eventually emptied out into the grand entrance hall, and Azra turned to the stairs that lined the wall, curving higher and higher up into the palace, landings here and there leading off into other rooms and corridors that led to other parts of the castle.

  “None of us have ever tested the theory. Honestly, maybe nothing, but that is only one possibility, and every considerable possibility is only worse and worse.”

  Cianna nodded. “I should let you get back to your work. I know the way you mentioned, so I will see myself out.”

  “Thank you for understanding,” Azra said, and then smiled. She rubbed Cianna's shoulders. “You look much like your mother,” she told her, and kissed her cheek.

  Cianna was speechless, so she only smiled and nodded her head. It was the first time anyone had ever said that to her, and it was a compliment that she relished.

  The path leading up the edge of the Barrier Mountains afforded Cianna a great view of the city. She’d never imagined that it could be as large as it was. Traveling through the Realm of Fire, she hadn't seen many establishments, and those that she did were only caravans. To think that the capital city was so large, and so splendid, was a concept she hadn't entertained.

  The path was wide enough for wagons, but she didn't imagine the bladed type they had in the Realm of Fire would come this way, because the incline was too steep. Throughout her travel she had to take frequent breaks, but she figured that was expected because there were a lot of benches along the way.

  The path was hewn from the rock in such a way as to provide a bit of covering. It was much more like she was traveling through a large tunnel with an opening to her left than it was a path.

  Doors to her right led into homes, and occasionally people would step out and chat with her as she passed. They were a cheerful people in Bahagresh, and Cianna thought it would be a beautiful place to live if not for the weather.

  Her gaze was drawn back several times to the Guardian's Palace, far enough away that she could see all of it now. She stopped at a bench and sat down. The roof of stone over her head shaded her from the sun, and a constant wind blew down the path, helping to cool her. She took a swig of the water that Azra had provided, and looked straight across at the tallest tower of the Guardian's Palace. She wondered what was happening in that room right now. It was most likely the office of Azra Akeed, and she figured she was talking to the other Realm Guardians right now. Was Joya one of the people she conversed with? Or did her cousin still hold a realm too alien to be included on their discussions? Was Azra talking to Annbell?

  The thought made Cianna pull the small telfetch from her bag. It was cold and silent, not glowing red with messages to be read. Why hadn't Annbell told Cianna about Sara? Had she not wanted to upset her?

  Cianna shook her head. She was reading too much into this. Annbell was never overly communicative. She put the telfetch away, slung her pack back over her shoulder, and continued on her way.

  When evening came, it saw her just cresting the top of the path. The homes had stopped some time back; obviously people didn't like the idea of traveling an entire day just to get to the city and then back home.

  She stood in a mountain pass, looking down at the city winking with lights so far below her that she could almost imagine they were lightning bugs. The Guardian's Palace was still visible, but small, and if she considered how far up she must be for that building to appear small, Cianna could feel dizziness swarming over her mind.

  She made camp, though there was no wood to make a fire with, and pulled the blankets tight over her body to conserve heat.

  The stars seemed so close here. Looking up at the inky veil, she let her mind wander, thinking of what was happening in the rest of the realms. She had been gone from home for so long now, and so much was going on that she didn't even know about. If it wasn't for the spirits, she would have no information at all, and even that information was fleeting, offered only when they didn't have anything else to complain about, like how they died or how they couldn't cross over.

  “You could use them to gather information for you,” Cianna heard to her right, and she nearly jumped out of bed. Ava was sitting there, cross-legged, so close to Cianna that her knees nearly touched her.

  “How?” Cianna asked.

  “Just command them to gather information for you. It won't be instant, but they will gather the information you seek.”

  “Show me,” Cianna said. “Like you did with the ghost light.”

  Ava nodded and vanished, and Cianna felt the little girl slip through her mind like a miasma of death.

  She felt Ava take hold of her necromancy, and with guiding hands she called to the less mournful dead. They responded like fog on her mind, and Ava gave a command of feelings. At once Cianna felt the spirits take her desires to know what was happening in the world, and they whisked away.

  “Now sleep,” Ava told her, separating from her body. “Tomorrow will be a long day for you.”

  Mag pushed the door open to Sara's office. She was the only one that could feel it, she was sure. There had been a disturbing flutter in the wyrd through the keep, and it was coming from the office of the Realm Guardian.

  Sara had diminished a lot over the last month, now hardly more than a skeleton lost in the embrace of the large chair behind her desk. She sat slumped, her hands loosely holding the glowing white Orb of Aldaras.

  Mag had heard of this orb. It was the same orb that Sara used to connect herself and other realm officials. It was even thought that the orb allowed the Realm Guardian access to the realm itself.

  Mag eased in and shut the door behind her quietly. She didn't want to disturb the Realm Guardian, but Mag had to investigate the source of the dark wyrd she felt pulsing through the keep.

  She moved closer, watching to see if there was any movement from Sara. Besides the deep, ragged breaths the Guardian was taking, there was none. But as she came nearer, there was an image in the orb that made Mag stop still.

  It was the Beast. Large, its body taking up nearly the entire surface of the orb. Its seven heads perched at the end of seven serpentine necks. Fourteen faces leered from the surface of the orb, and if she looked deeply enough, Mag almost thought she could see the twelve sets of wings on the back of its bloated body.

  Mag gasped and stepped back. No sooner had the noise left her lips than ten of the fourteen faces turned in her direction, and the image started to vanish. Sara let out a moaning sigh and slumped forward, her hand knocking the orb off its perch. The Orb of Aldaras rolled forward, and just as it was about to land on the stone floor, Mag loosed enough wyrd to cushion its fall. She didn't want to touch the orb, not after the image she had seen within, so she eased it back on its perch with the help of her wyrd, and in the same fashion slid it away from the Realm Guardian.

  Making her way to Sara, she tossed a white riding cloak over the orb, and a tattered piece of parchment fluttered from inside the folds to land on the floor at the base of the desk. As she shuffled by, the parchment was pushed under the desk and nearly out of sight. She paid it no mind.

  “Sara,” she whispered, stirring the Realm Guardian out of her near-catatonic state. “What are you doing?”

  “Annbell,” she said weekly.

  “Annbell is gone, checking on reports sent to her by telfetch of village raids,” Mag told her. “She asked me to watch over things while she was gone.”

  Sara nodded. “Checking.” Sara motioned to the orb.

  “You should be resting,” Mag told her, helping Sara to stand. Mag was a small woman, so it took all
of her effort, and some of her wyrd, to help the Realm Guardian stand.

  “Nightmares,” Sara said, shuffling along beside Mag. “Tea,” she said as an afterthought. She tried to look behind her, but could barely manage the movement.

  “I will get you more, I will ask Van to make it. Right now, you need rest.” Mag looked back at the orb. No wonder Sara was having nightmares, if what was ailing her was coming from the orb. She had been told that Sara was making the realm ill because she was ill. If the orb was making Sara ill, then would getting rid of the orb stop the illness? It only made sense that something could reach through the orb to Sara if Sara was able to reach through the orb to other things.

  She guided Sara through her room and to the bed. Mag helped the Guardian into the blankets, tucked her in, and wasn't surprised to see that Sara almost instantly fell asleep.

  What were they going to do? They had two Guardians, that was true, but Annbell wasn't a sorcerer, and Mag didn't think there was ever a Realm Guardian that wasn't a sorcerer. Would Annbell be able to hold the position by herself?

  And could Sara even die from this? She was a sorceress, and that was supposed to mean there was only one way she could die. But looking at her pallid skin, Mag wasn't so sure there wasn't another way.

  She pushed the short locks of her black hair away from her forehead, wyrded the lights out, and silently closed the door behind herself, though she wasn't sure Sara would even have woken if she slammed the door. She didn't think Sara would wake up any time soon, but she made her way to the outer office to ask Sara’s assistant, Van, if he could make the tea. The young man looked worried, bobbed his head, and disappeared down a back stairway behind his desk.

  Mag returned to the office and stood there for a while, looking around. She could feel the source of the chaotic wyrd still within the office, but it was lessening now. There was only one place she thought the power could be coming from.