First Comes The One Who Wanders (17 page)

Realizing that this must be furry face's master, and perhaps the magik Solein had warned her about, Leilas wiped the tip of the pike on the grass, but didn't relinquish it. She wasn't sure how this master had accomplished it, but she could see it was true. Joshuas, Brenth and her mother were searching the surrounding forest frantically, looking for any sign that she was there. She appeared to be standing right in front of them, yet to them, she was gone.

"She must be here," said Brenth frantically. "She couldn't have just vanished."

"All of the soldiers and the master lie dead," said the queen. "So she can't have been taken. And I don’t believe she ran away, after having made the decision to stand against them."

"She said she wouldn't go back on her word. And yet, she killed the dark magik." Brenth shook his head in confusion.

"I don't believe she killed him," replied Joshuas. "I don't feel the presence of light power here. Whatever killed him, it wasn't Leilas."

"Then where is she?" asked Brenth, despair in his voice.

Joshuas looked at Daina who was beginning to understand what he was thinking. She shook her head in denial, and he shrugged in defeat. "Not here, Brenth. Not here."

Wiping his sword on the pant leg of one of the fallen, Joshuas sheathed his weapon and began dragging the fallen into a pile. Daina shook her head and stepped further away from him. "They wouldn't give you the same courtesy."

"Perhaps not." Joshuas didn't stop his work. Daina shook her head again and then with a sigh began to help. Brenth began to gather wood. They watched the funeral pyre in silence. Then with no words of comfort to give one another, they mounted their horses and rode towards Menas.

"You seem to know quite a bit about me, but I haven't had the opportunity to meet you." Leilas spoke to the air around her. She could feel the presence of this crafter, but though she tried, she couldn't break through his defense to see him.

"I prefer to leave that until you're here with me. You've surprised me with what you've learned in Neothera. Had I known you would learn so quickly, I wouldn't have sent Leodaemon to bring you to me. He was a useful servant, but not one of my finest."

"I've agreed to come, but you must tell me where I'm supposed to go. Leodaemon," Leilas said the name she'd only just learned tentatively "wasn't inclined to tell me where you dwell."

The dark presence chuckled at her obvious ploy. "I'll bring you here. There's no need for you to know where that is, at least, not yet. Perhaps, if you're reasonable–. If not, you'll find yourself returned to Neothera, with no one to guard over you in this land. I wonder how long you'll survive, unconscious and alone."

Despite her resolve, Leilas shivered. The menace in his words was palpable. Joshuas' words came back to her again. There are no magiks out here to help you. Unconsciously, she touched the ring Solein had given her. Memories of his words and teachings floated into her mind. He'd done his best to prepare her for this moment. She hoped she would live up to his expectations.

"Are you ready?"

Leilas watched her Mother, brother and Joshuas disappear into the forest, safely on their way to Menas. Turning away from the picture, she nodded to the invisible presence. The pull of Neothera flared as a vortex opened near her, but she wasn't pulled into that barren wasteland, instead she was pulled into a room constructed of stone. Pillars stood twenty lengths apart in a square, enclosing a metal brazier in the middle of the room. Twenty lengths beyond the pillars the walls rose to a height of twenty lengths. Leilas wondered about the significance of the dimensions as she studied the wooden carved reliefs that adorned the walls.

Some depicted demons, some wars, some depicted torture. This master, whoever he was, seemed to have a taste for the macabre. Leilas shivered, despite herself. She was alone in the room, except for the reliefs. There was no furniture. If this was where she was to stay she was in for some uncomfortable nights.

Despite her resolve to meet this master on equal terms, Leilas felt her grip on reality slipping. The room began to fade into blackness as Leilas slumped into unconsciousness.

Rengalai pressed on a brick in the wall and stepped back as the door opened into the Seer’s Tower. He’d brought Leilas here first, because he knew she wouldn't be able to tell where she was or sense it in a room with no windows, protected by the lords of the underworld. Secondly, this room was meant to intimidate her. As he stooped to gather her off the floor, he wondered if he’d succeeded. She was far gone into the darkness of the poison. Actually, he mused, he was amazed she had any lucid moments at all. He would have to be careful not to underestimate her power, simply because she was so very young.

The tall, dark, crimson-robed master settled Leilas in his arms and stepped out of the tower, letting the door slip quietly back into place as he strode silently down the hall to the room he'd prepared for her.

"Beware what he tells you," Leilas felt rather than heard the admonition in the darkness swirling around her. Somewhere, it seemed far away, she could hear a song of healing. One she'd never heard before. She listened intently trying to follow and learn the pattern. The words carried a great power and she knew this song must be quite old. She wondered where the healer had learned it.

Slowly the words compelled her closer and closer to consciousness. She could feel the power of the poison losing its hold. Regretfully, she said farewell to Solein, for she didn’t know when she would meet him again, if ever. He’d taught her so much. If she could only remember once she made this final journey back.

Touching the silver ring on her finger, Leilas opened her eyes to find a man, seemingly in his mid-thirties, on his knees, eyes closed, chanting. He was dark, with black hair and a neatly trimmed black beard. There were no traces of silver. He wore the crimson of the Fire masters, but Leilas suspected that was for show. He seemed older than the traditions of the Schools, almost as old as the mountains felt. The master’s voice was deep and strong and she felt the strength it imbued. Whoever this man was, he had kept his word. He'd healed her. But at what price, she wondered.

Rengailai stopped chanting, took a deep breath and opened his eyes. Their jet-blackness probed Leilas’ green depths and seemed to be satisfied. With a deep sigh, Rengailai pushed himself off the floor.

"My lady," his voice hinted at mocking, but didn’t quite convey it. "It's a pleasure to meet you, at last."

"I thank you for healing me, Lord–", Leilas paused for a name.

"Haven’t you figured out who I am, yet?" The master flashed a smile that dazzled Leilas’ senses. He wasn't at all what she'd expected.

"If I had to guess," she replied, rising to a sitting position on the bed. "I would say Rengailai."

The master inclined his head slightly to acknowledge the correctness of her guess. "I’m flattered that you've heard of me. I thought it had been many years since the masters of Sky and Sea told my tale."

Even though he knew she'd been to Neothera, he didn’t seem to know about Solein. Leilas was relieved. Rengailai might have misjudged what she knew, if he didn’t know she had been training with the old master.

"They told us very little of you. I'd be fascinated to hear more."

The white teeth shone again briefly then disappeared behind thin lips. The master wasn't quite as amiable as he wanted her to believe.

"Perhaps later." He moved over to a bell pull by the bed and tugged. "Right now, you must be hungry and perhaps would like to freshen up?"

"Yes." Leilas smiled briefly in return. "That sounds lovely." She didn’t know what game they were playing, but her sense of danger went on high alert. She couldn’t help picturing the cats in Dirth playing with the mice before they ate them.

A bent old woman appeared from nowhere in response to the silent summons. Rengailai spoke to her in a dialect with which Leilas was unfamiliar. The woman sneaked a look in her direction, bowed even lower and scurried away.

"That was Marlette. She's been here her whole life." Rengailai turned towards the door. "She'll take care of your needs. I'll return later. Until then," he inclined his head, almost a bow, "enjoy your stay."

Leilas was at the door as soon as it closed. As she suspected, it was locked and sealed with magic. "Hard to enjoy your stay when you’re a prisoner," she said to the air, almost certain he was listening, if not watching. Returning to the bed, she loosened her empty sheath belt and placed it on the mattress and then sat in the plush armchair by the fire and tugged at her boots. It took a bit of effort to remove the leather from her wounded leg. The blood formed a bond between the wound and the boot. She'd opened the sore in several places by the time her boots were standing next to the fire. By the time she'd removed her tunic and un-tucked her shirt, Marlette had returned with two other servants, bearing a tub between them. Marlette carried a large pail of hot water.

Smiling in anticipation, Leilas loosened the thongs of leather tying her hair and began to untwist the braids. A hot bath would be wonderful and perhaps some clean clothes. She might be a magik, but she was also a princess. Days of fighting, riding and sleeping in her clothes were not in her normal routine. Waiting until the tub was filled, Leilas thanked Marlette and when she'd left the room, Leilas quickly stripped off her shirt and breeches and stepped into the blissful hot water.

After scrubbing herself clean with the jasmine scented soap, Leilas lay back against the sloped side of the tub and closed her eyes. Rengailai’s healing left her feeling healthy and whole, but it had taken its toll. She was weak and tired and sorely in need of food and water. Turning her head, she looked at the pile of ruined clothes on the floor. There was no way she was wearing those filthy rags. Grabbing the towel Marlette had left near the tub Leilas dried off and wrapped it around her thin body as she began a search of the room for clothes she might be able to borrow.

Opposite the four-poster bed was a chifforobe made of ebony. Opening the doors, Leilas discovered shirts, breeches and tunics of gray, green, scarlet and black.

All the colors of the dark magiks, thought Leilas as she sorted through the clothes until she found some she thought would fit, green breeches, a gray shirt with a gray and green tunic. Rengailai hadn't provided her with any dresses. Perhaps he'd heard she never wore them. She felt a bit vulnerable without the silver and crimson colors of her father’s house. But then, it wasn’t her father’s house or her father’s kingdom anymore. The royal colors wouldn’t protect her now. Not that they would have offered her much protection against Rengailai.

What had Solein told her of this magik? Leilas touched the silver band on her finger and willed herself to remember. The memory seemed to swirl briefly and then she was sitting on a cliff, looking out over the white sand to the gray sandstone cliffs in the distance. Behind her was the opening to the cave she called home.

"Dinner is just about done," Solein called from inside the dimly lit cave. "Lizard and cactus pear, it's quite a treat."

Leilas laughed grimly. It was a treat in this forsaken land, but it didn’t even compare to the scraps thrown from her father’s table. Never again would she take the blessings she was given for granted, if she was ever given the opportunity to return home. Rising from her perch, she slipped into the dimness of the cave.

"Lizard again," Leilas took her customary seat by the fire pit. "I’ve got to get out of this place."

"Yes, you need to find the answer." Solein placed a plate in front of Leilas and then sat across the fire from her.

"You keep telling me there's an answer." Leilas gnawed at the tough piece of meat. "But I’ve been here for decades and haven’t come any closer to finding it than I was the first day I arrived in Neothera. I’m beginning to believe there is no answer."

"Don’t lose hope, Leilas" Solein pointed in the direction of the cave entrance. "All those madmen out there lost hope and their fate is to wander in Neothera forever."

"And yet, you come and go as you please." Leilas turned her eyes on the older magik. "Why don’t you just tell me the secret?"

"Because I can’t. Even if I told you how I come and go, you wouldn’t be able to use my entrance. This is a journey you have to take alone and only you can find the answer."

"So you keep saying. Perhaps it's my fate to wander in this wilderness."

"Perhaps so," Solein took a bite and chewed it slowly. "But that isn’t what I see."

"Once again, you see the prophecy and things that will be. But only because I choose it."

"Exactly." Solein nodded and took another bite.

Leilas shook her head and went back to eating. There must be something wrong with her, because even after all these years, she still didn’t understand the idea of free choice. How could it be predestined, if it was her path to choose?

"Tell me, Solein. When I find this answer, where will it lead me?"

She thought she heard Solein sigh. How often had they had this conversation? A hundred times? A thousand?

"The mists are unclear," replied Solein, pulling spines from the desert pear. "But you must meet great darkness."

"You mean Rengailai?" Leilas had wormed the name from Solein over the years. He was a master of dark magik. One who was older than Greyan and had been alive during the wars. Master Frey told her Rengailai was dead as was Greyan. But Solein had different ideas.