Messenger (The Shifter War Book 1) Page 5

  His heart skipped a beat. “You mean Magus Brianna can find me.”

  “As long as she lives, yes. My intent to take you to Corros is to hide you from her. Earlier tonight I didn’t know if you were her apprentice or her enemy, but the results are the same. There are enough enchantments in the citadel to mask your presence.”

  “But not out here.”

  “I’ll take you to Corros, if that’s your wish,” Sonnen said, his eyes intent. “But I’d prefer if you made your way to Altonas.”

  That wasn’t what he was expecting. His eyes narrowed. “The broken citadel? Why? Brianna and Ronan are heading there.”

  “I won’t lie; it’ll be dangerous,” Sonnen said. “But you won’t travel alone.”

  Danil stared at him with growing dread. “Why would I want to go there at all? I don’t even know how to hold a sword! And if Magus Brianna can find me—” A shudder went through him. “You want me as bait again,” he said bleakly.

  “It’s your choice, Danil. Altonas is abandoned and of no significance. For some reason, two Roldaerian mages desire it. We must find out why.”

  “But my going there will just warn them that I’ve told you everything.”

  “I would prefer all eyes on Altonas.”

  Danil’s eyes narrowed. “Because of the journal.”

  Sonnen quirked an eyebrow.

  He flushed. “Brianna wouldn’t have cursed it because she hates to share,” he pointed out.

  The dragon smiled slightly. “That’s highly debatable. But, yes, the journal once belonged to a powerful enemy of Amas. That his work fell into the hands of a mage is deeply troubling.”

  “Who was he?”

  “His name was Kaul,” Sonnen said. Flames gathered in his golden eyes. “And he created the deadlands.”

  8

  A dozen bodies lay strewn about the camp. No shifters were among the dead, although some lay injured. Danil trailed after Sonnen, seeing an bloodied sparrow being tended to by an elderly man. The sparrow’s harsh breaths eased as glyphs brightened on one tawny wing.

  Danil slowed at the sight of a Roldaerian soldier kneeling between two shifters, her arms bound behind her back. The soldier noticed Danil and smirked, the movement pulling at a fresh cut at her mouth. The pin above her breast glinted in the gathering light.

  “Do you recognize her?” Sonnen asked, pausing at his side.

  “I—yes.” The bruises on his ribs flared to life. “That’s Commander Voss. She arrived in Farin with Magus Brianna.”

  With a thin smile, Sonnen indicated to the shifter guards to drag the commander to her feet. The shifters walked her to the trees. Commander Voss seemed hardly to care, head held high.

  “What are you going to do to her?” Danil asked, watching as the commander and her escort disappeared into the forest. Unease coiled in his belly.

  “As a mage’s commander, she will likely know more than most. That the magus entrusted her with retrieving Kaul’s journal says much.”

  Danil glanced at him in surprise.

  The dragon’s eyes were slitted flames as he gazed about the camp. “Your Magus Brianna underestimated our preparedness. I suspect she will not make the same mistake again.” He motioned with his hand. “This way.” He stalked onto a path between two tents.

  Danil hurried to stay apace with the dragon’s long strides. “The man who created the deadlands,” he began. “Kaul. He—I didn’t think anyone could have such power.”

  To think just one man could scorch the earth bare for centuries. Danil shuddered.

  “He didn’t,” Sonnen said. “Not within himself, at least. His ability to manipulate kiandrite—what you call mage-crystals—and store their power made him a terrible adversary. It was luck that the deadlands aren’t far larger.”

  They entered a new tent. It looked like a storeroom, with a series of shelves laden with items like water flagons, trailbread, daggers and boots. A significant array of tunics and breeches were also on hand.

  To Danil’s surprise, Hafryn was busily stuffing a cloak and other items into a pack. The wolf paused when he noticed their entry. He met Danil’s gaze with something like guilt in his eyes.

  “You okay?” Hafryn asked. A larger question seemed hidden beneath it.

  Danil managed a nod. He raised a hand to show the glyphs. “Ready to be spied upon once again,” he said dourly.

  Hafryn quirked an eyebrow and turned to the dragon. “You told Danil about the farseeking. I suppose that means you’ve drawn a new conclusion about him?”

  A deep growl came from Sonnen’s chest. “The night’s outcome was not a surprise to me.”

  “Really?” Hafryn snorted. He sat back on his heels, expression troubled. “That was no small incursion, my friend. We’ve not seen an attack of that ilk in a long time. A very long time.”

  “I know it,” Sonnen muttered. “It’s possible more mages are involved than we first thought.”

  Hafryn hummed thoughtfully. “Magus Brianna may be wealthy enough to influence other mages to her cause while staying beneath King Liam’s notice.”

  Sonnen slid golden eyes toward Danil. “Did you notice anything of the sort?”

  Danil shook his head. “I saw only Ronan and Brianna. And the guards at Farin all carried Brianna’s insignia.”

  Hafryn gave a frustrated sigh. “At least we have Kaul’s journal, even if the latter sections are magicked.”

  Danil rubbed his arms. “Is it the ice curse?”

  Sonnen made a sound of negation. “The enchantment is quite old—a working of Kaul himself, I believe. The words slide about the page and make little sense.” His golden eyes showed flames. “Given time I will know its contents.”

  “Might want to hurry, Sonnen,” Hafryn said, shoving a handful of tunics into his pack. “To show their hand so soon, I’d almost say the magi are panicking.”

  Sonnen nodded. “I’ve sent word to Corros for a squadron to meet you at the broken citadel. In the meantime, you should prepare another pack.”

  Hafryn tilted his head. “For who?” He glanced at Danil before scowling. “No. You gave your word, Sonnen!”

  “Danil was given a choice. He chose to join you in Altonas.”

  Danil hid his surprise. Joining Hafryn hadn’t exactly been disclosed.

  The wolf’s lip curled as he rose to his feet. “He’ll be safer in Corros.”

  “He will,” Sonnen agreed reasonably. “But he knows the risks.”

  Hafryn laughed sourly. “Does he?” He turned to Danil. “I saw how you fight, Danil. What if another soldier grabs you? What if a mage takes you?”

  “Elania and Blutark are going with you,” Sonnen said.

  “As they should be! But not as personal guards for a cursed human!” Hafryn yelled.

  Danil scowled. “Is that what I am to you? A cursed human?”

  Hafryn scrubbed his hair in frustration. “Not in the way you’re taking it, fala,” he muttered.

  Danil folded his arms. “I get the feeling nowhere is safe for me right now,” he murmured. “Besides, if I’m in Altonas, Brianna herself is likely to show up. You can catch her and break the curse, along with stopping whatever she has planned.”

  Hafryn swore. “You make it sound so easy.”

  He shrugged, ignoring the wolf’s sarcasm.

  Sonnen watched the exchange with amusement. “Don’t gnaw on an old bone, Hafryn. The human has made his decision. It is an insult to demand he make another.”

  Hafryn shook his head. “I mean no insult, fala. I just know you’ve already done enough.” He sighed at Danil’s resolute expression. “But if you’re intent on haring off through the mountains, I’d prefer it be with me.” He pointed at Danil. “But that means you do as I say. No arguing!”

  Danil nodded, trying not to smile. An unnamable weight lifted off his shoulders.

  The wolf huffed. He turned back to Sonnen. “How many are joining us from here?”

  “A squad of ten. The rest will remain here to
patrol and watch over activities in Farin. I’ll be taking the journal…elsewhere.”

  Hafryn nodded, unquestioning.

  “I want you on the trail within the hour,” Sonnen said.

  The wolf gave him a lazy salute. “Will do, my prince.” He glanced at Danil. “Pack what you need. Anything doesn’t fit, I’m sure Sonnen can enchant it for you.”

  The dragon’s mouth quirked. He bowed his head in agreement. “As you say, wolf.”

  Hafryn tied the top of his pack and without a word shouldered his way past Sonnen to exit the tent.

  Danil stared after him. “I think he’s angry with you.”

  “It’ll pass,” Sonnen murmured. “Just don’t get yourself hurt or I’ll never hear the end of it.”

  Danil felt strangely heartened by that.

  9

  They travelled along the banks of a river as it weaved deep through forest and gorges. The snow-covered mountains loomed high overhead, casting long shadows throughout the day.

  Danil trod the single-file path on quiet feet. The shifters took up a hard pace, navigating the steep riverbank with ease. Hafryn strode a few paces ahead, his red braid swinging jauntily back and forth. Other shifters kept to their animal forms, slinking along the darkened tree line. Elania in particular seemed to melt into the dappled sunlight, her spotted leopard coat blending with the rich soil. Danil supposed her silent companion, Blutark, was somewhere further in the trees, having remained unseen since they set out.

  The sun indicated mid-morning as they made their way down a series of escarpments. A waterfall roared beside them, making the rocks slippery with damp. At the bottom, the river fed out into a large basin that looked ideal for swimming. A few shifters paused to refill their waterskins.

  Danil joined Hafryn at the water’s edge. He eased down his pack and stretched out the knots along his spine. Sprawling beech trees sank their heavy roots into the water on the opposite bank. Danil watched a single leaf spiral down to land on the cool surface.

  “Is all of Amas like this?” he wondered.

  “Mountainous, you mean?” The wolf handed him a waterskin.

  Danil nodded. “I’ve never travelled beyond Farin, but I know Roldaer is mostly flat land. A soldier once told me that there are provinces where they grow little more than grains, and at summer the whole land is a big field of yellow.”

  Hafryn grunted. “We have our farming provinces, though hardly on the scale you speak of. Most Amasians crave wildness, so we have a care over how we treat our lands. Even the peat bogs and marshes are sacred to many clans.” He smiled. “We all manage to get along.”

  “What clan was Kaul from?” Danil asked.

  Hafryn’s smile fell. “A large one. But he’s dead, thank the stars.”

  Danil resisted the urge to roll his eyes. “That’s a given, considering he was in the Great War.” He took a large gulp from the waterskin, relishing the coolness in his throat.

  Hafryn eyed him. “Some Amasians live longer than others,” he said as he took back the waterskin. “As a halfbreed, however, Kaul wasn’t so blessed. Nor was he particularly smart, considering he sided with the human magi.”

  “I didn’t know there were halfbreeds,” Danil said as he collected his pack. They started along the river once more.

  “Kaul was the first and to my knowledge the only halfbreed. Our two kinds don’t seem to mix so well, at least not when the goal is childbearing.” Hafryn’s mouth slanted upwards. He stepped over a fern wedged into the rock. “Kaul had a magical bent that allowed him to manipulate kiandrite. He experimented in ways that are anathema to Amasians.”

  “Like the magi,” Danil murmured, thinking of Ronan’s firewhip.

  Hafryn nodded. “The journal is one of Kaul’s earlier works. He really didn’t perfect kiandrite manipulation until he was well into his sixties, and his earlier experiments required significant quantities of kiandrite. Which is likely why the magi plan to invade Altonas.”

  “But what’s so important about the citadel?”

  “It’s both Kaul’s birthplace and where he died, so it makes sense that the magi think he left something there. In his younger years, Kaul was particularly adept at channeling kiandrite into glass orbs. We know that an orb of corruption resulted in the abandonment of Altonas. Another orb might still exist in the ruins, but—” Hafryn tilted his hand back and forth.

  “It should have been discovered by now,” Danil surmised. The thought of the magi accessing that much power left him chilled.

  “It’s not all bad. Altonas was once a large citadel. The magi will have a lot of ground to cover. And we’ll be there to meet them.”

  Danil hardly looked forward to it, but pressed on regardless.

  Later that afternoon, a bitter coldness swept over the back of Danil’s neck. It felt much like the icy winds that moaned across the deadlands in the dark of winter.

  A stillness took over the forest. Not even a whisper of breeze stirred the branches. The soft pad of footfalls marked the crossing of a small rodent in the underbrush. A shifter in the form of white-tailed dove winged overhead as she marked the trail for them to follow. Hafryn talked quietly with two other shifters as they moved amidst the trees.

  The coldness swept across Danil once more. His skin pebbled as the feeling of being watched stole over him.

  A sudden image flashed across his vision of Magus Brianna. She sat in the inn’s aleroom, bowed over a silver bowl. Gossamer-thin spears of ice spread out across the floor beneath her slippered feet like a spider’s web.

  Danil shook his head to clear it.

  The air directly above him seemed greyed somehow, congealing by the moment. Danil stared until it seemed like a pair of pale blue eyes stared back at him through the cloud.

  ‘Found you, guide,’ Brianna whispered in his mind.

  “Danil!”

  Elania emerged from amongst the trees. Iridescent glyphs showed brightly on dark skin as she raised her hand. A powerful force shot through the trees and struck the cloud with a thunderous crack.

  Danil was lifted off his feet and flung across the gully. He crashed into the leaf mold, the breath knocked out of him.

  A woman’s maddened chortle echoed in the distance. The cloud rapidly broke apart and disappeared.

  Hafryn slid to a halt beside Danil. He grabbed his face with both hands. “Danil!”

  “I’m fine,” he gasped out. He struggled up onto his elbows, his lungs burning.

  “Cursed magi filth,” Hafryn snarled, looking murderous.

  Elania and Blutark crouched beside them. The young woman had the grace to look guilty. “Forgive me, Danil. I misjudged what would happen when I broke the connection.”

  Danil wiped his mouth with a shaking hand. “What was that?”

  “A farseeking,” Blutark growled, his voice a deep baritone. “Normally the magi aren’t so obvious about it.”

  Elania nodded. “That cloud. She wanted us to know her business. Did you see those eyes?” She shivered.

  Danil wheezed as Hafryn helped him sit upright and dusted his back for dirt. “But I already knew she was spying on us.” He told them what he’d felt and seen.

  “How unexpected,” Elania murmured.

  Blutark studied Danil’s face, dark eyes curious. “A reverse seeking isn’t an apprentice’s trick. You shouldn’t be able to perform it.”

  Danil stared at him in bewilderment.

  “A side effect of the ice curse?” Hafryn asked, worried.

  Blutark looked thoughtful. “The purpose of farseeking is to remain hidden. That Magus Brianna made herself visible is likely to taunt you, Danil. But I can’t imagine she’d want her own location known as well.”

  Elania studied his face. “You must warn us next time.”

  Danil bit the inside of his cheek. He hardly wanted to be blasted off his feet again.

  Hafryn grinned, having read something from Danil’s expression. “Come on, up you get.” He gripped Danil’s forearm and heaved hi
m to his feet. “Let’s get some distance from here, eh?”

  Blutark fished out Danil’s pack from where it lay tossed amidst the ferns.

  Danil murmured his thanks. He ached everywhere. “I thought Magus Brianna couldn’t do any magic after the attack last night.”

  “Farseeking isn’t the same as transporting,” Blutark said, watching as Elania started back up the trail. She shimmered and became a snow leopard. “There must have been a dusting of kiandrite in the bowl to augment her abilities.” He hesitated, frowning. “It will likely get easier with time.”

  “You mean to find me?” Danil asked in alarm.

  The bear shifter nodded. “That is the way of farseekings.”

  Danil struggled to push down his dismay.

  Glancing at Hafryn, he saw worry also tighten the wolf’s expression.

  10

  Magus Brianna looked in on Danil twice the following day. Each time, his skin prickled as if coated with hoarfrost moments before grey mist coalesced above him. The last farseeking occurred just as they set up camp for the night, and after a short discussion, the party decided to trek on into the darkness.

  “She does it to rattle us,” Hafryn muttered as they made a slow path through the underbrush. He eased back a low vine. “She thinks that by revealing each farseeking, our resolve will crumble, and we’ll abandon you.” His teeth showed whitely in the dimness. “To be clear, fala, that’s not going to happen.”

  Moonlight filtered through the canopy to reveal vines, spindly climbers and an array of ferns, moss and liverworts amidst the foliage. A twig snapped nearby, and Danil caught sight of a pale arctic wolf as it padded along at the edge of the party.

  Danil thought of the latest farseeking, when he’d caught vision of not just Brianna but three other mages in the aleroom. Two appeared to be making scratchings in workbooks, but the third waved a crystal that glowed weak orange over a piece of black quartz. Ronan was nowhere in sight.