The Labyrinth of Destiny (34 page)

Kendan smiled at her and marveled
at the strength of her spirit. Part of him wished that she really was his
sister. He would be proud to have such an extraordinary woman as part of his
family.

Shimat Badger had returned to his
post, but he had left instructions with his personal staff. The two new slaves
were given heavy parcels to carry and ordered to march in line with the rest of
the slaves.

Kendan glanced at Maizah to make
sure that her burden was not too much for her, but her steely expression told
him that she was just fine. His own burden was cumbersome more than anything
else, but he hefted it onto his broad shoulders and marched on.

He was pleased to have placed
himself so well within the Shimat camp. No one looked too closely at a slave,
and so he would be able to move fairly freely. Once he got a feel for how the
camp operated, he could formulate a plan for getting close enough to Basha when
the time was right.

Kendan’s biggest concern had been
that he would be taken prisoner and chained to one of the supply wagons. After
all, the “nephew” of the former Sharifal would not be treated kindly by
supporters of the new leadership. Luckily, he had only been recognized by a
low-ranking Shimat whose word meant nothing to his superiors.

As long as Kendan could keep from
being recognized again, he would be successful in the mission that Adesina had
sent him to accomplish.

A small smile played about Kendan’s
lips, and he quickly banished it from his face. He needed to play the part of
downtrodden slave for a few more weeks, and then he would have his chance to
smile.

He felt a twinge of regret that he
would be missing out on the battle that was to come. He would have liked to
fight alongside Adesina once more. Still, he knew the importance of his mission,
and he was glad to play his part in the greater picture.

Adesina could not succeed without
him being where he was, and that was more important than if he singlehandedly
wiped out the army of mercenaries.

He would do anything for her, even
if it meant playing a slave to the people he hated most.

Kendan almost despised himself for
his devotion to a woman who would never love him, but he could not force
himself to change. He knew he would do anything she asked of him, no matter the
personal cost.

Because of this self-knowledge,
Kendan also knew that as soon as Cha-sak was defeated, Kendan would go to great
lengths to ensure that he never saw Adesina again.

Adesina spent a lot of time
thinking as the army traveled north. She had several heavy tasks before her,
and she needed plans of action for each of them.

But although she had much to plan,
her thoughts kept turning back to her father.

She and E’nes mourned together,
speaking about how they wished they could have said goodbye. They shared
memories of the man who had been so important in their lives, and Adesina was
happy to learn that she knew almost as much about Me’shan as her brother did.
After all, Me’shan had gone to great lengths to make up for the time lost with
his daughter.

Adesina felt that she had been very
fortunate. Even though she had been taken from her family as an infant, she had
been given the opportunity to know each of her family members. Not many could
say the same in similar circumstances. Especially considering the fact that
Adesina’s mother had died shortly after giving birth.

As she rode north, surrounded by
her brave cavalry soldiers, she thought of how grateful she was for her ability
to Dream. Through her Dreams she could visit the realm of the dead and speak to
her mother. She had the chance to know the woman who had sacrificed her life in
order to ensure Adesina’s future.

The ability to Dream was a comfort
to Adesina in the face of Me’shan’s sudden death. Although she was unable to
Dream while it was necessary for her to block Cha-sak from her mind, her father
would be waiting for her when this war ended.

Adesina’s musings wandered onto a
new track.

Me’shan was dead. His body had been
damaged beyond repair, and yet he was not gone. His existence—his soul—had
simply moved to another realm.

Something slid into place in her
mind—a missing piece of the puzzle she was facing. If that was the case for
humans, why would it be any different for other life forms?

The L’avan queen turned to Finlay,
who was now officially her second-in-command.

“I believe it is time that you take
full control of the cavalry, Finlay.”

The young man looked at her in
surprise. “Why is that, your Majesty?”

Adesina smiled at his genuine
humility. Hestia’s son-in-law was continually taken aback by her reliance on
him, as if he was certain that there had been some sort of mistake. Even so,
his humility did not prevent him from doing his very best in everything that
was asked of him.

“I am needed in a different
battle,” was her simple reply.

Finlay nodded solemnly. Around the
nightly campfires, the prophecy of the Threshold Child had been told to the
allies of the L’avan. It had become common knowledge that Adesina would be the
one to save them from the demon.

“Yes, you shall fight the battle
that no one else can win.”

Adesina’s heart warmed at his
sincere confidence in her. She knew he did not say such things to flatter her.
He said them because he believed them.

“I am so proud to have ridden with
you,” Adesina said.

Finlay gave a small grin. “I am
honored to be known by you.”

Ravi must have been listening to
the exchange, because he kept by Adesina’s side as she heeled Torith forward to
the front of the marching army. Adesina spotted L’iam, who was walking his
horse while conversing with a group of soldiers near the front.

“L’iam,” she called as she drew
closer.

Her husband looked up, startled to
hear her voice. He mounted his horse so he could speak to her without having to
crane his neck.

“What is it?” His voice sounded
concerned. “Is something wrong?”

Adesina shook her head. “No, I
think I have discovered a solution to one of our problems.”

L’iam’s eyes lit up. “Oh?”

“Unfortunately,” she continued, “it
means that I need to leave you and ride ahead to the Thieves’ Forest.”

L’iam’s face fell. “You know I
cannot leave the army.”

“Yes, I know.”

“And you also know that I hate
letting you out of my sight.”

Adesina’s voice grew softer. “Yes,
I know.”

Her husband reached over and took
her hand. “You love to put me in impossible situations.”

She lifted their clasped hands and
pressed her lips to the back of his hand. “I would not say that I
love
it, but it does seem to happen often.”

L’iam’s face looked conflicted, and
Adesina knew that there was nothing she could do to make the decision easier
for him. He finally sighed and gave her hand a squeeze.

“Be safe, my love. I will see you
soon.”

“In just a few days,” promised
Adesina.

Then, without looking back, she
galloped ahead of the L’avan and Seharan forces, leaving them far behind.

What do you intend to do?
Ravi asked through their Joining.

Adesina glanced at the graceful
feline form keeping pace beside her.

Can you not read my mind?
she teased him gently.

She could not hear him over the
thundering of Torith’s hooves, but she knew that he snorted in exasperation.

I know some of the thoughts that
led you to your recent realization, but that does not mean that I automatically
know what you are planning. I am well aware that you are highly unpredictable
at times.

Adesina chuckled to herself.
Yes,
you are.

A single rider is able to move at a
much faster pace than an army of soldiers. Adesina completed the distance to
the Thieves’ Forest in a day and a half, using her
vyala
to keep Torith
refreshed and able to maintain a brisk trot. Ravi was also able to keep pace,
but he drew his energy from the world around him.

As they travelled, she began to
flesh-out her idea, allowing Ravi to be a part of the mental process. It was
difficult for her to work out all of the details in her mind, because, although
she had learned much about
vyala
over the past year, there were some
answers that she simply did not know. Ravi was able to help her to refine many
of her theories, but they remained theories still.

By the time they reached the
Thieves’ Forest, Adesina was ready for her task.

The Forest loomed before the L’avan
queen like an enormous wave of shadows. Night had fallen long before they had
seen the first of the trees, and the moonlight made the ancient woods look
ghostly.

Adesina dismounted Torith and tended
to him. He had been working hard for a long time, and she didn’t want to risk
him coming to harm. When she was satisfied that Torith needed nothing other
than rest, she left him to graze outside the forest and walked on with only
Ravi to accompany her.

The whispers began the moment
Adesina stepped among the trees.

“Threshold Child…”

“…walking toward the Light…”

“One who is of our people…”

“…yet not of our people.”

“Yearning of the heart…”

“A life not yet realized.”

“The potential of the ages…”

Adesina called forth her
vyala
and let it flow through her entire being. The power warmed her and made her
feel even more alive. The scents of the forest—the damp soil and the blooming
flowers, the decay of old growth and the greenery of new growth—grew more
potent, and the colors were vivid even in the dark of night.

The whispering voices of the forest
took shape before her, forming into the spirits of Immortals whose bodies had
been destroyed.

 Adesina could feel their unrest.
The Immortals had been designed to live forever, and yet that opportunity had
been ripped from them by the abuse of
vyala
. They had been trapped in
Adesina’s world, where they could no longer serve any purpose. Their lack of
bodies limited them severely, and they had spent many years simply wandering
and waiting.

Adesina thought again of her
father, whose body had been burned to ashes on the funeral pyre. She knew that
just because the human spirits could not fully exist in her world, that did not
mean they could not continue to live in another. She had seen her own mother,
years after E’rian had passed away. She had spoken to her. She had embraced
her. In the world of Dreams, E’rian was as alive and present as Adesina, and
she knew that she would find Me’shan there, too

What was the world of Dreams but
another realm?

The world where human spirits
dwelled after their bodies had died was connected to Adesina’s world through
Dreams. Which meant that, in a way, Dreams were a Threshold. She knew that
there were worlds beyond the one she lived in and the one she visited when she
Dreamed.

So, why could there not be a realm
for Immortal spirits?

Kendan had suggested transporting
the spirits back to the forest to the south, thereby enabling the L’avan and
Seharan armies to pass through the Thieves’ Forest. However, Adesina now
believed that she could do more than simply move the spirits to a more
convenient location.

She could give them back their
purpose.

Adesina anchored her mind in
Ravi’s, and then she opened herself fully to every ounce of power that she
could hold. Her body blazed with
vyala
, and the feeling was both
intoxicating and frightening.

I am here, Ma’eve.

Ravi’s presence in her mind was
comforting, and it helped her to focus on the task at hand.

Adesina reached out from herself.
She sent tendrils of her awareness out into the universe, searching for the
worlds beyond those she knew. At first it felt as though she was grasping at
the darkness, and she was uncertain if she would even recognize what she was
looking for when she found it.

She refocused and drew her
awareness closer to herself again. She began by feeling the immense and complex
life of her own world. It was so varied and so alive, so much more than just a
sphere of rock. It was the plants and the water, it was the insects and the
birds, it was the animals and the humans. All of these things made the world
what it was, just as Adesina’s body was made of numerous and unique parts.

Adesina pushed her awareness
outward again. She felt the space that surrounded the world in the physical
sense, but also in a less tangible way. It was as if there were layers of
existence, and she was able to feel all of them.

She could feel the world of Dreams
like a sheer cloth that was wrapped around the world she lived in, almost as
though it were the same world, filling the same space but existing in a
different reality.

There were many other worlds like
that—less physical, but just as present. There were also many other worlds that
were similar to her own—just as filled with life, just as complex and unique.

Adesina was amazed by the extent of
life in the universe. She had been taught the theories of what the universe
held, but she had not realized that each star was a life of its own.

The Creator did not begin and
end with your world, Ma’eve. The Creator has always been giving life, and will
continue to give life for all eternity.

Ravi’s words brought Adesina back
to herself. She had almost become lost floating through a universe of
vyala
,
but now she refocused on her purpose.

She gathered her
vyala
and
brought it to bear, not as a weapon but as a tool in her hands.

Adesina had never attempted
anything like this before, and she only had a small amount of information to
guide her. She relied mostly on instinct as she began weaving her arms back and
forth in a graceful motion.

Her mind searched through all of
the worlds and realms, finding one where a spirit would not be hindered by the
lack of a body. She passed over the worlds that were filled with other life.
She kept searching.

She wanted a realm that was
unclaimed.

She finally found one that was
filled with plant and animal life, but did not have anything akin to humans or
Immortals. Adesina paused in uncertainty, but something deep within her filled
her with a sense of peace. She knew without a doubt that this realm was the one
that she needed.

Her
vyala
began to stream
down her arms and out of the tips of her fingers. The swaying movements that
Adesina was making with her arms continued, and the thick threads of
vyala
wove together like yarn on a loom.

The
vyala
was composed of
many different colors, in infinite shades. It was like looking into a prism
that sparkled with sunlight. Something within her knew that she needed the
shimmering pathway to extend to the heavens. She needed it to reach as high as
possible. The woven result of Adesina’s movements looked like a shimmering path
of light that began to stretch up to the sky.

Adesina felt that she, too, would
have been carried upward, were it not for the firm presence of Ravi’s mind in
her own. In fact, as Adesina worked, she realized that the Joining between
herself and her guardian was so strong that it was almost a strain for her to
extend her
vyala
upward.

The connection that kept her mind
safe also held her down.

Reach out to me, my child. Take
my hand.

Adesina acted before she had the
chance to think it through. She thrust her hand upward, as if reaching for
someone to pull her up. She knew that the gesture was not needed in a physical
sense, but her
vyala
followed the action.

Her entire body stiffened as she
felt an infinite source of power wrap around her gently but firmly. She was
raised several inches off of the ground, and light began to swirl around her.

Adesina had never experienced so
much pure
vyala
before. The power was indescribable, and she knew that,
if the
vyala
she sensed were hers to control, she would be infinitely
powerful. As it was, she could merely sense the power, not use it on her own.