A Dead God's Tear (The Netherwalker Trilogy) (40 page)

Still, as Selene led him out, the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. The feeling of unease, of being watched, stayed with him, and h
e glanced back reflexively. His gaze was pulled to a pair that didn’t move with the flow of the crowd, and he knew instinctively that these two were the ones that had so alarmed him during the trial.

They both wore full body cloaks that hid most of their f
aces, one a deep cerulean blue and the other a vivid crimson. The one in blue was obviously female from the way the fabric outlined her body, and it was plain to see that she was the one in charge. Her partner was much larger in frame than any elf Marcius had seen, but wore a feral smile on what little of his face that was visible. He seemed to be responding to something the woman had said.

“
Are you coming?” Selene intoned from behind.

“
Who are those two?” he said, unable to tear his eyes from the pair.

He
heard a shuffle of armor as Selene came next to him and she followed his line of sight. There was a slight gasp from the elven warrior. “Come, Marcius. We must go, now.”

There was a desperate quality to her voice that finally released the spell the duo had
cast over Marcius and he found himself hurrying to catch up with her as she exited the double doors. “Wait!” he said as he finally fell in step with her, “Who were those two back there?”

“
They are of no concern to you,” she said, walking briskly in front of him.

But from the way she bristled and refused to look at him, Marcius doubted that was the case.

❧
　❧　❧

The light outside was filtered through a thick canopy, causing everything below it to take on a greenish hue. Trails of yellow pollen fell from above, drifting lazily with the wind. The air was filled with the gentle rustle of leaves and musky earth smell of nature.

“
Incredible!” Marcius held his hands up to his eyes as he walked outside. “Where am I?”

Selene followed him, and the smile o
n her face stole Marcius’s breath. “Welcome to Agliarena, the heart tree of Selenthia.”

“
Tree?” Marcius looked around and it dawned on him that this wasn’t a building, but a dwelling carved into the side of a massive tree that loomed over head like a giant to ants. He could have fit an entire section of his city in the massive expanse of trunk! The very prison that held him was tunneled from a section of root! There were dwellings all along the outer rim of the tree, looking like mossy overhangs connected by flights of stairs that seemed to grow from the trunk itself.

“
The heart tree is where we house our wizards and prisoners. Magic and patience coaxed those stairs that follow the sides.  Agliarena forms the center of our nation and our forest.”

“
Incredible. . . ” Marcius whispered, squinting as he tried to look to the uppermost stairways at the mere specks of elves that wandered them. “Why do you keep wizards and prisoners there? Wouldn’t it kill the tree?”

“
Several reasons. For wizards, it is a fountain of power, an endless wellspring of nether to draw from, much like the Academy. It only makes sense that they would want to be close. While we don’t often take prisoners, it is the most secure place to keep them. The tree is connected to us and our desires, and there is no safer place to keep enemies of our nation. The tree isn’t normal. It draws life from the nether itself. It is alive. Agliarena is connected to the elves and we are connected to the tree. ”

Marcius walked up to the side of the tree and looked
back questionably at Selene. When she nodded, he ran a hand along the length. The wood was warm to the touch and hummed with contained power. How could he have missed this? He let his fingertip trail lazily. Marcius wished his father could have seen this.

“
Let me show you where I live.”

“
I’m living with you?”

“
You don’t expect to stay here by yourself? I am your guardian, and by our custom, I am to provide lodgings. You may turn me down, but it is considered very rude. Also, it’d be hard for you to wander around since you’d have to wait for me to arrive to escort you. Unless you like being killed. . . ”

Marcius shook his head ruefully. “
I had enough near death experiences these last few days, and I’ll pass on the offer.”

A few minutes passed in peaceful sil
ence as they walked through Selenthia. The entire ground was covered in thick moss, like an outdoor carpet. Marcius had always imagined the homeland of the elves to be built in trees, like Agliarena. But he was pleasantly surprised that it wasn’t the case. All the buildings were small and squat to the ground, made from large smooth stones that had eventually been grown over with plants, giving the entire ensemble a weathered natural feel.

The first thing that sprung to mind was how clean the city was, there
was nothing that one would expect from a human establishment. No trash littered the ground; the normal hustle and bustle didn’t exist, just elves quietly going about their business.

It was
. . . refreshing. Peaceful. The elves that populated it gave him nothing but friendly glances, although they were also wary. Marcius suspected much of the freedom was given because of the imposing guardian that Selene made. She did look remarkably intimidating in her armor, heading in a determined manner toward her destination with a scowl on her face.

Gradually the landscape changed, the tightly knit buildings began to spread out and the crowd lessened. The houses were larger in this area, with expansive yards and imposing gates wrought from solid black stone. Massive elv
en statues lined the path of worn moss they walked; they looked down on him with stern faces and impressive weaponry, as if daring him to take action.

"We are now in my family's territory," Selene said as they made their way past a yard of elves training w
ith wooden swords. The speed and agility in which they moved still bewildered Marcius, and he wondered what Jared would say if he was here. They looked like only young children.

"Territory?"

"Aye, I am of the warrior caste. This is our area. Selenthia is divided into equal parts: the ruling caste, the warrior caste, and the servant caste,” she said this as a matter-of-fact, as if she expected him to know such things, but doubted that he did.

Marcius thought for a few seconds, "So, everything is decided when
you are born?"

"Aye."

"Sounds. . . restrictive."

There was a slight tightening of her face, but she nodded. “
Perhaps, but it is. . . pleasant. . . to know exactly your purpose in life.”

Selene
’s strides picked up, forcing Marcius to have to go into a jog to keep pace. “Isn’t that boring, though?” he continued when they were once again side by side, “What happens if you don’t like it?”

“
Life is full of unpleasant things. There are far worse things than playing to a role.”

“
But-" Selene stopped so suddenly that Marcius almost ran into her.

“
We are here. Welcome to the house of Caste Liarne,” she said as Marcius glanced over her shoulder.

A stone gate surrounded an expansive courtyard that was heavy with dark-green moss and peppered with bushes and flowers in
full bloom.  The worn rock pathway that lead down the center eventually came to a halt against a squat main building surrounded by several smaller structures that gave the impression of a half-buried monster with claws coming up from the ground. It wasn’t huge, but it was still sizable, and despite the vegetation, it was obvious to even his untrained eye that everything was kept in good repair.

The courtyard mimicked the prior ones in the fact that there were numerous elves sparring, and Marcius watched one
break away to approach the gate. “Battle Mistress Selene,” he said, giving a curt bow, “It is nice to have you back.”

“
It is nice to be back, Lorisen.” And the smile that Selene flashed the elf had Marcius’s stomach twisting painfully.

The elf
’s eyes then narrowed when he saw Marcius. “This would be the human that the council has forced you to watch?”

Something in the elf
’s gaze stirred a part in Marcius and he found himself stepping forward before he fully realized why he was doing so. “Tiarle, Lorisen. Ai’le de Marcius,” he said, his hand performing the expected motions.

He was rewarded with obvious surprise, and the elf gave a hearty laugh. “
Ah, Battle-Mistress, I like this human more than the Morlian
raethl
already!”

Selene gave a tight-lipped smile. “
Well, he did receive a full pardon, but I’m sure you already know that with how fast news travels around here. Anything to report?”

The two lapsed into a flurry of elvish, and to Marcius it sounded like a whole lot of nothing. Marcius just followed and trie
d to be as unobtrusive as possible. He was distinctly aware of being the focus of attention of every elf that was on the training grounds, but did his best to ignore it.

They neared the double doors of the main building and it was here that Lorisen paused,
obviously not intending to follow them into the dwelling. “Well,” he said in common, for Marcius’s benefit, “that’s all I have to report, Battle-Mistress. I’ll be heading back to oversee the training.”

Then he looked at Marcius, “
And you, human, what an interesting person you are. I look forward to the trouble you cause!” and the elf laughed, clapping Marcius heartily on the back like they were best friends, before turning around and waving as he walked off.

“
What was that about?” Marcius asked, a little confused.

“
You learned our customs,” Selene said, as if that should answer everything. “It might be a small thing to you, but we are creatures of habit and it’s something to be noted when someone, especially a human, learns it on his own.”

“
What do you mean? All I did was read the scroll and copy it.”

“
That greeting you did is one of great respect, one of the highest of our people when addressing a superior. To us, it paints you as someone who is humble, and, especially for a human, that is remarkable.”

Marc
ius didn’t know what to make of that, so he didn’t say anything. “What’s a
raethl?”
he asked instead.

Selene
’s laughter sent pleasant shivers down his spine, “Not a nice word. What horses do when they drink too much water! Let me show you where you will be staying.”

❧　❧　❧

Marcius awoke violently, and for a moment panic set in as he didn’t recognize his surroundings. But his rational side took over as the fog of sleep cleared. This was the room Selene had given him to stay in. Nothing to worry about. With a huff he flipped over, pulling his covers tighter as he tried to go back to sleep.

The unfamiliar press of sheets ag
ainst his body mixed with the alien surroundings poked and prodded him until at last he swung himself out of bed with a frustrated sigh. It was something in his dream that initially woke him up, he felt. But the dream had begun fading as soon as his eyes had opened and all that was left was a shadow, the slightest of hints, as to what it was.

His feet were cold on the wooden floor as he padded over to the table and, using the small candle that stayed burning, he lit a larger one that flooded the small room
in an orange light. The room the elf had given him was not the largest, but it had a desk, spacious bed with comfortable sheets, a shelf full of books that the scholarly part of him couldn’t wait to devour, and overall, it was far nicer than the cell he had come from which wasn’t so bad in itself. Though he didn’t intend to make it a habit, his first imprisonment went fairly well. So why did he feel so off center, outside of his comfort zone? Was it only because he was far away from home, or was it because for the first time in his life he had no one there to support him?

He ached for the relaxing familiarity of his friends and loved ones. He felt out of place here, a stranger in strange lands. He was an oddity, an inconvenience. Part of him just wanted to r
un and never look back. . .

Another part of Marcius, the greedy hidden side of him, thirsted for the knowledge here. Selenthia was ancient when the human kingdoms were young. He wanted to learn, to become better. He was tired of being a burden, and he wan
ted payback for whomever it was that stole his father and Master from him.

A rumble from his stomach alerted him to another, more immediate, problem. Selene had said that he was a guest here and was welcome to come to her for anything he needed. Well he wa
s hungry, but it was late and it would be rude to just wake her up. Briefly he entertained what type of attire she might sleep in, but purged those thoughts away, feeling guilty.

Gently opening the door and easing it behind him, he crept out into the hallw
ay, noiseless as a mouse. He wondered where exactly elves kept their food. Selene’s estate was far larger inside than it appeared. It was partially underground. Marcius had to navigate by touch and by leapfrogging to the staggered torches that lined the walls. He grumbled a bit at their seemingly haphazard placement, but maybe elves had better sight than a human and didn’t need them? Either way, it was annoying. He wished he had the forethought to bring a candle with him, but laziness prevented him from going back to his room.