Shards of Time (25 page)

“Then the other one came.” Mika grew serious. “He was mean. He had a cudgel and he chased us and hit us with it. That’s how my arm got broken. I used my magic to make him
go away. My friend and I ran and then I fell and—” He paused, biting his lower lip nervously. “After that, I woke up here in the tent with Master Thero.”

“Did the mean one say anything?” asked Seregil.

“He was very angry and was yelling at us, but I couldn’t understand what he was saying.”

“He was speaking a different language?”

“I guess so. But I knew he was angry, by his face and his yelling.”

“Was your friend scared of him, too?” asked Alec.

“Yes! He tried to help me get away.” Mika was trembling and pale now, remembering.

“Where did the mean man come from?” asked Micum.

“I—I’m not sure. We were playing and then he came over a bank by the road.”

Thero put a comforting arm around the boy’s shoulders. “That’s enough for now.”

“How about I stay with you today, while Thero is gone?” asked Alec.

Mika brightened a little. “Can we play bakshi?”

“Watch out for him, Alec,” Klia said with a wink. “He’s a sharp player.”

“So is Alec.” Seregil chuckled. “If you’re very good, Mika, perhaps he’ll teach you how to cheat.”

“He’ll do no such thing!” Thero sputtered.

Seregil gave him a crooked grin. “You never know. It might come in handy someday.” He yawned and stretched. “It’s been a long night. and I should get a few hours’ sleep before we go back in. What do you say, Thero?”

“That’s fine. Come find me when you’re ready.”

“I’ll say good-bye now, then.” Klia stood and hugged them. “Zella and I are heading back to Deep Harbor this morning. I have official duties awaiting me, though I’d much rather stay here and ferret out spirits with you.”

“A
RE
you sure you don’t want more of an escort, Highness?” Zella fretted as they gathered with Klia’s small escort to begin the ride back to Deep Harbor later that morning. “After what happened to poor little Mika, I don’t want to take any chances with your safety.”

“If we are attacked by a few shepherds with cudgels, I’m sure twenty of my best riders can protect me,” Klia said with a chuckle. “What do you say, Captain Sedge?”

He grinned. “Oh, I think we can handle it.” The man was beaming; he was going back to Deep Harbor to be with his family.

“Captain Brescia, I’m leaving you in command until I return,” Klia told her officer.

“I’ll take care of things, Highness.” Brescia pressed her fist to her chest and bowed.

Mounting Moonshine, Klia led the way down the road.

“How are you feeling today?” Zella inquired.

“Perfectly well,” Klia assured her. “I’d much rather stay here and hunt ghosts than deal with the crowd of petitioners I’m sure are awaiting me when we get back.”

“Is this your first administrative post?”

“Yes. I’m a soldier at heart, but with the peace comes different responsibilities.”

“Would you rather be fighting?”

“I wouldn’t say that, exactly. But being governor is likely to be quite a bit tamer than the life I’m used to.”

“It has its challenges, Highness. And I am honored to serve you. Will you continue the archduke’s work here?”

“The city will have to wait until we’ve ascertained what happened to Toneus and his lady. I’m thinking of sending for Illioran priests to investigate why the oracle went silent and who the spirit in the inner chamber is. I would consider my time here well spent if it were possible to awaken the spirit of the Lightbringer here once more.”

They weren’t far beyond Mika’s stone when, ahead of them, Captain Sedge reined in and signaled the small column to a halt. Looking past him, Klia saw a tall, black-cloaked figure standing in the center of the road. It struck her at once that it was not just tall, but too tall for a man. It raised its arms as if to embrace them, and she saw with a cold, sinking feeling that the edges of the figure’s garments were wavering like smoke. It raised its head and she saw that it had no face, just a black hole where it should have been.

“Stay back!” she ordered as Sedge and the others drew their swords. “That’s no man.” Drawing out the amulet that Thero had made for her, she rode up beside Sedge and held it up. “Begone, foul demon! You can’t touch me.”

To her surprise, the thing let out a weird, hooting call, made her a chilling, misjointed bow, and disappeared into thin air.

“Quickly, Highness!” cried Zella. “We must return to camp and find Lord Thero.”

They wheeled their mounts to retreat, only to find themselves facing a crowd of the shifting, wavering phantoms. With blinding speed, they rushed the column and Klia watched in horror as each of her companions was attacked. A black figure attached itself to a person, then phantom, rider, and mount winked out of sight. In the blink of an eye, she alone was left facing at least a dozen of the foul creatures. One darted forward and disappeared up her horse’s nose in a black mist. Poor Moonshine shuddered horribly, then staggered in a drunken circle and took off at a gallop down the road away from camp. Klia dragged on the reins, then tried to turn the possessed horse, but it thundered on, and she had no choice but to hang on as best she could. The
air went dreadfully cold around her. Tangled in the stallion’s white mane, Klia’s fingers went numb.

She was in serious danger of falling off, but just as she was bracing for it, Moonshine foundered and went down under her. She hit the ground hard and rolled away, narrowly missing being pinned under the horse. It knocked the breath out of her and she could only lie there helplessly and watch as gouts of black blood erupted from the stallion’s mouth and nostrils. He gave a last convulsive kick, then went limp. Black mist streamed from his bloody mouth and faded to nothing on the still air.

“Illior’s Light,” Klia gasped, making a two-fingered warding sign. Still fighting for breath, she staggered to her feet, clutching Thero’s charm and trying to get her bearings. What she saw took her breath away all over again, as powerfully as if she’d suffered another blow.

She was on a rock-strewn plain under a grey sky. All around her lay the bodies of her escort’s mounts, all with black blood staining their faces, sightless eyes staring at nothing. Horses, but no riders, dead or otherwise. She was alone.

Alec stretched out on Thero’s cot for a few hours of sleep and woke a little after midday to find Mika trying to struggle one-handed into his breeches.

“Hold on there. You’re not supposed to be out of bed, are you?” Alec asked with a yawn.

“Nobody said,” the boy replied, trying to untangle the uncooperative garment from the long tails of his shirt.

“Are you sure?” More likely no one thought he would try to get up.

“Can we play games if I stay on the cot?”

Bakshi was not the sort of game easily played in bed, so Alec fetched a deck of cards from his tent and taught Mika Blue Goose, then Bell and Trumpet, resisting all wheedling to teach him how to cheat at them. Soon, however, Mika was restless and hungry, so Alec helped him dress, settling his broken arm carefully in its sling, and they went in search of
something to eat. The fog had burned off and the afternoon was clear and pleasantly warm.

“Are you sure you’re well enough to walk about?” Alec asked as they made their way to the cooking area.

“I’m all right,” Mika assured him, clearly happy to be out and about. “The drysian took good care of me. I just can’t use my arm. I know where to get food, though. One of the cooks likes me.”

Mika led him to one of the booths, where the cook made a fuss over them and saw to it that they had bowls of lamb stew and bread. Alec carried Mika’s bowl for him over to a place on the trampled grass by the large central fire. He set the bowl down in front of the boy and Mika was able to eat one-handed.

When they were finished, they found themselves at loose ends.

“How about you showing me where those people attacked you?” asked Alec.

“My friend didn’t attack me,” Mika reminded him. “He got hurt, too, but he helped me get away.” He paused, clearly conflicted. “Master Thero didn’t say whether I could leave the camp.”

Alec gave him a wink. “It’s all right if you’re with me. I have my sword, just in case.”

Together they walked down the road to the river. The sun was bright, making the snowy peak of Mount Erali glow against the blue sky.

Mika brought him back to the large rock. “This is where I met my friend.”

“Show me where you played.”

They walked down the riverbank for half a mile or so, with Mika pointing out where they’d caught crayfish, and where he and his friend had wrestled in the river.

“Are you sure you came down this far?” asked Alec. “I don’t see any footprints here and the ground is soft.”

“Yes. Maybe the river washed them away?”

Alec wondered again if Mika had dreamed the mysterious strangers. There was simply no sign of anyone having come this way.

After that they climbed the rise where the assailant had appeared and gazed out across the rolling, boulder-strewn grassland. There were no houses visible, but there was a flock of sheep a mile or so away, and beyond that the low grassy hills rose like waves above the plain. Alec stood for a moment with one arm around Mika’s thin shoulders, his other hand resting on his sword hilt, willing the bully to show himself.

“Those boys you encountered were probably shepherds from over there,” Alec said. “The younger one must have snuck away to play, and the other one came after him.”

“Maybe that’s why he was so angry.”

They returned to the tent to find Seregil had come back from Menosi alone.

“Thero and Micum are questioning more of the guards about recent ghostly activity and disappearances,” he told them. “I don’t remember Thero saying you could get out of bed, Mika.”

“I’m fine, really,” the boy assured him. “I just took Alec down to the river. He said it would be all right.”

“I did,” said Alec. “And I wouldn’t have taken him if I didn’t think he was well enough. Children heal faster than adults. I always did.”

“I don’t doubt it,” said Seregil. “What did you find?”

“Mika showed me where he thought he’d gone, but there were no footprints much beyond the rock where Thero found him. We did see some sheep off in the distance, though, which would explain where the strangers came from. It might be worth a look.”

Seregil glanced out the tent flap. “There’s daylight enough left. Mika, you’d better stay here in the tent, until we get back. I mean it, no wandering off or Master Thero will be upset with all of us.”

“I promise, Seregil.”

“Good.”

“Now, tell us all you can remember about what the boy and the man looked like.”

“The boy is about my size, with brown eyes and hair and he’s brown from the sun. The man—” Mika’s brows drew
together in concentration. “I don’t remember as much about him, except he was really angry and had a cudgel. I guess he sort of looked like the boy but grown up. You’ll know my friend though; he can’t talk.”

“That will help,” Seregil replied with a smile. “Behave yourself. If you need anything, ask someone to bring it to you.”

Alec and Seregil rode out with Sergeant Oris and six soldiers, stopping first by the rock where Mika had first encountered the other boys. Seregil walked up and down the bank, looking for signs Alec might have missed, but shook his head.

“Maybe he did dream it,” said Alec.

“I don’t think so. The way he described the people he met and what he did was too detailed.” He walked down to the bank, squatted down by the water’s edge, and began turning over stones. Sure enough, after a moment he held up a little crawfish, its tiny claws flailing. “He didn’t dream these.”

He mounted Cynril again and they galloped across country toward the large flock Alec and Mika had seen.

The new spring grass and bobbing wildflowers of various shades rippled under the caress of a light breeze that carried the scent of new herbs. Bare patches and dried sheep patties showed where the sheep had already been.

Four boys and several dogs were guarding the sheep. Two shaggy island ponies were tethered to a few bushes near a fire pit.

The dogs began to bark but the shepherds called them in and came to greet Alec and the others as they reined to a halt at the edge of the flock.

The boys—all brown-eyed and tan and dressed in rough, dirty shirts and leggings—ranged from about Mika’s age to a gawky teenager with bad skin who stepped forward as the leader. The youth greeted them in Plenimaran, clearly worried at the sight of the armed soldiers.

Alec asked the youth in Plenimaran, “Are you the only …” He didn’t known the word for “shepherd.”

“Sagma,”
Seregil finished for him.

“Yes, are you the only shepherds out here?”

“We are,” the youth replied. “I’m Nothir and these are my brothers. Why do you bring soldiers here?”

“We are looking for a man who attacked one of our friends, and a boy about that size,” he explained, pointing to the youngest. “The boy is a mute.”

Nothir shook his head. “No, sir. Don’t know of any mute.”