‘Watercrag is closer to Lyth than it is to Tanza. Why wouldn’t they come to you for protection?’
‘If they needed to protect the sacred magic of Tolite bonding from the Zeikas, only skyearls would have been strong enough to get them out. Lyth has not been a safe haven for many decades. Nor do we have constructions like that shield.’
‘Built by the ancients, no doubt,’ I replied.
I turned the blue blade in my hands.
‘What is his name?’ Sarlice asked.
I glanced at her. Henter was strapped to her back with a quiver of black arrows.
‘Fyschs,’ I replied. Without even thinking I just knew.
Sarlice grinned.
‘Somehow it feels alive,’ I said.
‘Tolite-kin are not really alive,’ she replied. ‘They aren’t separate beings like Rada-kin or Sleffion-kin.’
‘Or Anzaii-kin,’ I added. ‘There’s life in this earring.’
I tapped Tiaro with my forefinger and glimpsed a slight increase in the earring’s glow reflected in my nail.
‘Perhaps it has something to do with the sapphire tree leaves,’ Sarlice suggested. ‘Krii knows we have lost most of our art with them. In any case your Tolite-kin is an extension of yourself. I call my Tolite-kin a “she” because she is a part of me.’
Sarlice was standing with her hands on her hips looking outward, taking in the sounds and smells around us. The wind lifted her hair, blowing it in her face. She muttered and pulled it out of her mouth.
Rekala jumped to her feet and bolted around the glade, caught up in the energy of the approaching storm. Dewdrops flew everywhere and she pounced at them skittishly. A shaft of morning sun penetrated the storm clouds, limning Rekala’s whiskers and hair in light.
‘Maybe we should find some shelter,’ I suggested, bending down to tug my Rada-kin’s tail.
The icetiger spun around with mock-ferocity, rolled onto the ground and pummelled my knees with her back legs, the claws safely sheathed. I tickled her even more ferociously, pushing her enormous paws away.
Sarlice weaved her way between shrubs and trees, skirting the jungle. I sensed Kestric deeper in to our left. He had been scouting the entire area, hiding himself in the shadows and keeping his waves to himself.
He turned his attention on me and shared what he was receiving through the waves from Sarlice. A blurred outline of her formed in my mind’s eye. She stumbled over a mossy root up ahead. Her heart was beating fast and she silently berated herself. My real eyes saw her stop and look back at me. A surge of warmth swam through Kestric’s wave, followed by a strange uncertainty. Feeling intrusive, I broke the link.
Rekala bounded into the jungle after Kestric, her immense, stripy paws leaving dents in the dew-covered lawn. I caught up with Sarlice on the crest of a hill. The wind buffeted us, carrying the scent of woodsmoke on its breath. Sarlice sniffed the air and raised her eyebrows.
‘Smells like dinner,’ she said.
We walked on down the hill and I was comfortable in my awareness of there being other people nearby. I felt certain they were friendlies.
Dark clouds streaked over us, stealing the sun from view early. At the bottom of the hill the first person was a mere silhouette against the brightness of a fire that blazed in the centre of a hollow. Despite the shelter of a huge boulder, the flames guttered and danced in the stirring wind.
‘Hello there,’ Sarlice called out.
The figure dropped his pot of tea on the ground and ran to meet us.
‘Welcome! At last! Talon—Sarlice, I greet you.’
We gaped at him. He bowed low, hands on his forehead. This kind of bow usually signified an oath of allegiance or service. I noticed three dark shapes on the other side of the fire. The man followed my gaze.
‘Your horses were wandering loose. I’ve been here waiting for you to come through the mists.’
I glanced back the way we had come. The barrier shield was only visible in certain places. Along its lower edge was a thick layer of cloud. As the shield rounded up and over Tanza it became translucent, revealing the normal-looking sky above. Apparently it admitted the light, the wind and rain, just not any living being that was not welcome. I shook my head in wonder.
The blood protection Sarlice had spoken of before we’d past through the barrier was Krii’s own blood. When Mortal Krii, the living embodiment of our creator, had been slain all those years ago, the great seal itself was broken. In a spiritual sense, all Kriites were covered in that blood and it granted us certain protection from evil spirits and from holy magic like that in the barrier shield. Why Tanza was the only Kriite nation to have such a fantastic barrier, I did not know, but it was an art from ancient times. Perhaps only the skyearls knew how to control it.
From this distance the blue and purple shimmered and ran together like the surface of a pearl. Tiny bolts of lightning arced from one spot to another, creating flashes in the ball’s surface that were mirrored in the sky above us.
‘My name is Tivac,’ the man said.
Returning my eyes to him, I held out my hand.
‘Oh,’ he said, bemused. ‘Yes, I’ve heard of this.’
He grabbed my hand.
Sarlice touched her right shoulder with her left hand and bowed her head. Tivac giggled with pleasure.
‘Ah. You know our ways, my lady. I am honoured by your fellowship greeting.’
We approached the fire together and consumed what was left of the tea.
‘What was it like?’ Tivac asked. He had an open face, curious and childlike. ‘The barrier shield, I mean. It does different things for different people.’
‘My experience was personal,’ Sarlice replied, with a glance in my direction. ‘Put it this way: I have forgiven someone who did wrong by me in the past.’
I knew she referred to her uncle, a man who had abused her as a young woman. She had later killed him in self-defence.
My mind wandered to the perpetrator of my own abuse, an altogether different type of person. The Princess Denliyan’s attempts to seduce me back in the wilderness near Telby had not been unwelcome, but she had underestimated my desire to remain pure until a lifelong commitment of love. So she had drugged me and attempted to get with child.
‘And what of your experience, Talon?’ Tivac wondered, noticing how deep in thought I was. His eyes were so inviting I almost blurted out what I had been thinking. I wrenched my mind back to the chasm.
‘It was only brief, and I can’t remember clearly, but I’m sure it challenged my commitment to Krii,’ I replied.
Tivac nodded. ‘When the skyearls told me about you being a Tolite now, I thought maybe they were tricking me.’
I grinned. ‘They do that?’
‘Oh yes.’
‘How did the skyearls know we were coming?’ Sarlice asked.
‘They sensed you passing through the shield.’ Tivac started packing up his supplies, talking over his shoulder at us all the while. ‘The skyearls are magical creatures,’ he replied. ‘In addition to their wave senses, they have a gift with water. Their bodies can convert water into shrouds, which look like clouds from the ground, but have a solid surface on top. After creating a shroud, the skyearls involved can sense it from afar and it takes small parts of their energy daily to maintain it.’
‘I’ve heard of shrouds,’ I said, ‘but what does that have to do with the barrier?’
‘It is chief among the shrouds,’ he began, ‘bearing similar properties, yet it is altogether different. It is said that three hundred of the largest breed of skyearl, the keltoars, combined forces to create it and, in doing so, gave their lives over to it.’
A feeling of awe and excitement reverberated inside me. Perhaps it was the crisp wind, but my teeth chattered as I yawned and stretched. Rekala and Kestric returned my feelings of exhilaration and I even thought I felt a hum of recognition in the sword at my side.
Having finished loading his gear onto his horse, Tivac gestured for us to mount ours.
‘Where are we going?’ Sarlice asked, glancing up at the looming storm.
‘It’s not far to Lantaid,’ Tivac replied. ‘We might just make it without getting wet.’
Riding single file, we travelled over hillocks of rich green grass and skirted around large, limestone rocks. The Rada-kin padded silently along the edge of the forest, watching us.
The relief of finally being in Tanza where we were safe from the Zeikas gave Rekala, Tiaro and I the ease to ponder on our situation.
‘Krii must have had a hand in your travels,’ Tiaro thought. ‘If you had remained with Lira all the way to Jesath and gone to Watercrag before Tanza, you would have found an army of Zeikas ready to spill your blood.’
‘That doesn’t make my falling for her betrayal any less embarrassing,’ I replied. ‘It only adds to the reasons why we should never have considered changing the order of our visits to allies in the first place.’
‘All is well now,’ Rekala said, sensing my distress. ‘We are on track to get help for Jaria and Lyth.’
‘Maybe,’ I replied. ‘But waiting in Lantaid to see if a skyearl will claim me seems like a waste of time. The longer Sarlice and I take to find allies, the less chance Jaria and Lyth will have.’
‘We’re also here to find out if you are a Sleffion,’ Rekala reminded me.
‘I can’t be,’ I argued. ‘I’ve already been given so much. I have the two of you and now this sword. I hadn’t even got used to being a Rada when you came along, Tiaro, and it’s the same with the sword. Things are moving so quickly for me, and yet they drag for my people back in Jaria.’
‘You are being propelled forward to your destiny,’ Tiaro declared. ‘If anything, I’d say the appearance of this Tolite-kin of yours is proof you are going to be an Astor.’
‘But an Astor hasn’t been seen for years,’ I protested, frightened of the prospect of having yet another magical gift to learn. ‘Me? Anzaii, Sleffion, Tolite and Rada? It’s too much for one person.’
‘I hope you don’t find us that much of a burden,’ Rekala sulked.
I glanced over at her—she looked dark grey in the stormy morning atmosphere.
‘You are not,’ I replied, ‘but a skyearl and all the cultures of this place to learn along with it? That would be too much.’
‘Just think how much a skyearl could help you on your quest,’ Tiaro argued. ‘If you get a big enough one, you’ll be able to fly! Imagine how much time that will save for the return trip.’
‘You’re right, Tiaro,’ I said, ‘but I’m concerned the time we’d save would be negated by the bonding and training that will be necessary beforehand. If the Tanzan king isn’t willing to help Jaria and Lyth, the sooner we find out and get out of here, the better.’
‘But if Watercrag has indeed fallen, what other Kriite allies does that leave us?’ Rekala asked—and I had no answer.
Instead I called out to Tivac. ‘Does the king of Tanza live in Lantaid?’
‘Nay,’ he said, allowing me to ride Fleetfoot abreast of his horse. ‘The king rules from Centan, the capital.’
He wiped a hand through receding, grey hair. ‘The people you will meet in Lantaid are mostly from Watercrag.’
‘I knew it!’ Sarlice exclaimed. ‘It was the only explanation for Talon’s new Tolite-kin.’
‘I’m grateful, but I am not certain I deserve such a fine weapon.’
‘There will be people in Lantaid to help you,’ Tivac said. ‘It has been only three and a half weeks since they came, but one of the first things they did was establish a bonding charm in the barrier shield. They call it the Curtains of Battle.’
‘Has it been difficult to integrate the two cultures?’ Sarlice asked. ‘My understanding is that Tolites are almost as ancient as Sleffions.’
He waved his hand. ‘Oh, it’s just what you would expect. They have lost their Caverns of Forging. There was some contention about combining the magic of the Tolites with the Tanzan Barrier, but it is done.’ He looked at Sarlice. ‘Did your passage through the barrier leave you with a weapon-kin as well?’
‘No. I travelled to Nooneagle years ago for mine.’ She gestured at the sleek warbow on her back.
‘That’s interesting,’ Tivac replied. ‘Maybe you’ll know somebody in Lantaid who is from Watercrag.’
‘Perhaps,’ she said quietly. ‘Talon is Anzaii as well. If he takes on the rank of Sleffion as well as Tolite, that will make him A.S.T.R.’
‘Is that right?’ Tivac said, looking at me more closely. ‘Astor is an important rank—we have not had one for a long time.’
‘Although I grew up in Jaria, I am a new Rada,’ I said, ‘and an even newer Anzaii—’
‘There are a few Anzaii here,’ he jumped in enthusiastically, ‘but none of them can reach far in the waves. Flight squads are occasionally sent into the Kiayr Range to see if the Anzaii can get word from our departed brethren, but the snowy heights only bring the bleakest silence.’
‘Departed brethren?’
‘Aye. Oh, there’s so much for you to learn of our history. Many years ago a large number of our people journeyed across the Kiayr Range in search of the Cauldron of Storms, a place of great power similar to that of our Barrier Shield. It is mentioned in the holy scrolls. The chain of heralds lost contact with them during a massive snowstorm and we haven’t heard from them since. Many fear they perished, but the king holds hope. He will ask you to search the waves for them once you are able to wave-speak the minds of skyearls. How far can you reach?’
‘I can still reach Jaria,’ I replied, ‘for short bursts.’
He seemed surprised. ‘That is good news.’
‘But that’s with Rada-kin. Sleffion-kin might be very different.’
‘You are at the beginning of your learning,’ Tivac said. ‘There is hope.’
‘What if I don’t become a Sleffion myself? Will my Anzaii abilities on the waves still extend to other people’s Sleffion-kin?’
‘I believe it has happened before, but not within living memory.’
We rode in silence for a time.
‘Tivac, I have a great aunt somewhere here in Tanza named Jaalta. Any idea where I might find her?’
Tivac craned his neck back and cast his eyes to the sky. ‘I’ve heard of a Rialta somewhere in the Sunbark Cities, but no Jaalta. There are tens of thousands of people in Tanza, Talon. Perhaps if you ask around in the capital, someone will have heard of her.’
Our conversation slowed when we realised we’d have to move faster to avoid the coming storm. We travelled at a steady trot for a good half hour before reaching Lantaid.