Exiles From The Sacred Land (Book 2) Page 19

  It was midmorning on the fourth day of tracking when Trendan caught the scent of something burning in the wind. He could see no smoke, but the smell was unmistakable. By late afternoon, he could see the smoke rising in great black billows on the horizon. The evening sun hung heavily in the sky when Trendan reached what he presumed used to be Signal Hill. Bits of rocks covered by a slag of molten metal marked the village entrance. He could only see one man alive, digging among the charred remains.

  “You there,” Trendan called out. “What happened here?”

  The man took one look at Trendan and bolted behind some of the rubble and was gone. Trendan knew that Dorenn had helped save the village and that it was being rebuilt. He couldn’t imagine Dorenn would have anything to do with destroying it. He combed the village until the sun went down but saw no other living soul. At last, he found a building with a roof still intact and three standing walls. It faced a direction defensible with his bow, so he decided to make camp there for the night and continue to search in the morning.

  Trendan awoke the next morning to an arrow pointed at his head. Dressed all in black leather adorned with silk stood Fayne. Her bold, emerald green eyes were transfixed on Trendan’s face. Even though she appeared incredibly angry, Trendan thought she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. The moment hung awkwardly in the air for several long moments.

  “Fayne, I—”

  “Don’t you say a word!” she commanded.

  “But I—”

  She pulled back harder on the bow string, and Trendan closed his mouth.

  Several more moments passed.

  “Are you going to shoot me with that arrow?” Trendan asked.

  “Are you impatient to die? Would you like me to hurry this along?”

  Trendan sighed. “Not particularly, no.”

  “Why, Trendan? Mother had not posed a threat to you.”

  “She was a spy and a traitor. I had to do it, out of duty.”

  “You are half right. I am a spy, but I was never a traitor.” Kimala’s voice came from beyond the wall. She entered the dilapidated room. “But you never gave me the chance to prove it, did you?”

  “How can you possibly be alive?” Trendan gasped.

  She eyed Trendan for a moment, contemplating. “All right, I will tell you.” She sat on the end of a broken rock wall. “When Fayne was a little girl, I was working in my garden and was bitten by a snake. Only, this snake was put there by Toborne. I was married to a man that opposed him, and he wanted to destroy that man’s family for leverage or Fawlsbane knows what for. The snake venom was made to corrupt me and turn me into whatever Toborne suggested. I was given to Naneden, his apprentice, and forced to turn against my family. It worked for a while, until I was ordered to kill Ianthill’s family. Enowene caught me before I could follow though, and with the help of Erinthill and Brynna, cured me and restored my free will. I vowed to destroy Toborne and Naneden for what they did to me and my family. I have been working as a spy for Enowene and Lady Shey ever since.” She smiled wickedly. “The venom of the snake had one happy side effect. I took on the properties of that snake forever. Its bite made me immune to all known poisons.”

  “Who were you married to?”

  “That, my dear boy, is another story. The rest of this story will have to wait for safer times to be revealed. I would be happy to tell you if I could, but there are others I must protect—more of my family than whom you see here.”

  “You realize that you have done nothing to convince me. How do I know you speak the truth?”

  Fayne let the tension out of her bow. “Believe it for me.”

  Trendan softened, but he still could not forget that Fayne had given him cause to doubt her. If he had not gone looking for her that evening, he might have never found out that she was carrying on a secret conversation, or that she was Kimala’s daughter. He looked into Kimala’s eyes. Something was still not right. He could feel a coldness there. He could follow Fayne’s wishes and keep Kimala close with caution. He decided that he did not entirely believe Kimala’s story, but he would go along with Fayne as if he did, for now. He would keep a sharp eye on the traitor and, if the time came, use something stronger than poison. This time, he would wait to see the results for himself.

  “All right, I will believe it for you, Fayne.” He rubbed the sleep from his eyes. “Did you two see anyone out there among the rubble who could tell us what happened here?” He wanted to change the subject as soon as possible.

  “Not a soul,” Kimala answered.

  “Do you think your friend did this?”

  “It’s possible, I suppose, but I have never known Dorenn to be destructive like this. The only fact I know for certain is that he came this way.”

  “There isn’t much around Signal Hill,” Kimala stated. “There are only two possibilities—North to Lux Enor and Naneden’s army or east to Symbor, the Vale of Morgoran, or Brookhaven.”

  Trendan thought for a moment. “If I had to guess, I would say he went to Brookhaven or the Vale of Morgoran. We should go east.”

  “If he did destroy this village, I say he went north to Lux Enor,” Kimala said. “There is a small village not far from here on the edge of the Borderland Forest, which lies between the Sacred Land and the fields of Enoria. Tippen’s Landing, I believe it’s called. We might find our answers there.”

  “No, we head east,” Trendan insisted. He collected his pack and his provisions and walked out into Signal Hill. The embers of the buildings around him had begun to die out. Something nagged at his mind while he surveyed the landscape, and he turned to the girls, who were already directly behind him.

  “I have changed my mind. We head north. I don’t want to believe Dorenn did this, but I know he was here. If he did do this, he would not go home. If we go north, we might be able to pick up his trail before getting too far out of Signal Hill, before going too far out of our way.”

  It took most of the day to reach the village of Tippen’s Landing. Trendan let Fayne do most of the tracking so he could keep an eye on Kimala. His alliance with Fayne and Kimala remained an uneasy one, but he felt that it was better to have Kimala in front of him, in view, than skulking behind him somewhere in the shadows. Trendan figured they would stay the night in Tippen’s Landing but was surprised when Kimala led them to the outskirts of the village.

  “I don’t understand. I thought you wanted to take care of business in the village,” Trendan commented to Kimala.

  “I never said that,” she retorted. “I only said we needed to get here.” She let out a heavy sigh as if she was irritated that she must stop and explain. “If it will stop all the fool questioning, there is an ancient site hidden near here. The wielders of old used to use these places of power to travel long distances.”

  “Like a dragon stone?” Trendan asked.

  “Aye.” She looked at him with malice. “Not everyone is best friends with the dragons of Draegodor. It is a rare thing for the more common folk, even wielders, to carry around a Lora Daine.” She looked around for a moment. “This way.” She headed off the path in a new direction. “The portals of Migarath were mostly destroyed, but a few remain. In the old days, there were several portals scattered throughout the lands. The ones that remain are now largely forgotten.”

  “Do they allow you to travel anywhere?” Fayne asked.

  “Unfortunately not. They only let you travel between portals. That means we are limited to only the portals that remain.” Her mouth curled in a wicked grin. “There is one other advantage. If the portal has been used recently, we can see where the user traveled.”

  “You think Dorenn somehow used the portal? That’s preposterous. How would he even know it existed?” Trendan scoffed.

  “Simple, the portal field is unique. I have not felt it for a while, but it’s unmistakable. Someone used it recently, and Fayne has been tracking Dorenn right up to the stop we stand on. It looks like he was told about the portals, or by some other means, he knows about t
hem.”

  Trendan looked up at the fading light. “How much farther, then? We are about to lose the light of day.”

  Kimala kicked at the ground and then bent down and dusted the area with her hand. “Stand back,” she commanded as she stood upright and raised her hands in a circular gesture. The ground that was there before was gone, and a rectangular opening big enough for a person to get through appeared parallel with the ground. Dust from the opening fell inside onto steps leading down. “Move quickly, the opening will only remain for a few moments.”

  Trendan stepped inside. He had a difficult time suppressing the feeling that Kimala was somehow leading him into a trap. It was pitch dark inside, and as soon as Fayne and Kimala followed him down the steps, the opening closed and the chamber became absolute darkness.

  “There used to be magical illumination that would light up in the presence of someone entering the chamber,” Kimala explained.

  Trendan readied his bow and reached for an arrow. If it was a trap, he would be prepared.

  A few moments more and two blue crystals on stands, about the size of a man’s head, illuminated a rounded, standalone archway at the center of the room, carved with a frieze of animals, forests, lakes, and mountains around its circumference. There was no indication of an active portal within the circular structure. Footprints in the dust led up to the opening, and sure enough, one boot print had the telling mark that gave it away as belonging to Dorenn. Trendan was perplexed. Being half-elven, and in spite of his appearance, he was far older than Dorenn, and he had never heard of the portals.

  “All I have to do is reactivate the portal and it should open directly to the portal, on the other side, last traveled,” Kimala said. “Trendan, the footprints in the dust, do you agree they belong to your friend?”

  “Aye, I do.”

  Kimala nodded and closed her eyes, obviously concentrating on the portal. At first, only flashes of a milky blue light covered the opening like sheepskin pulled over a drum, but it flashed and disappeared. Kimala stopped and gasped for breath. “This is harder than I thought,” she said. She poised herself to try again.

  “Mother, rest a moment. There’s no reason to strain.”

  “Fayne dear, I’m fine. I just need to concentrate.” Kimala closed her eyes and tried again. The milky blue sheen again appeared but was not covering the entire opening. A vein in Kimala’s forehead grew and throbbed. She clenched her teeth, and just before Fayne was about to step in, Kimala let out her breath in one last big gasp and the portal lit up with the milky blue turning to a brilliant, swirling blue, and the outer edge of the circle began to illuminate in golden light as each of the carved images moved one be one. Kimala collapsed to her knees. Fayne went to her, but Kimala put her hand up to stop her. “I am all right, dear.”

  “Now what?” Trendan asked.

  “Now we step through. Just let me catch my breath for a moment,” Kimala answered.

  “Where does it lead to, can you tell?” he asked.

  Kimala looked up at the golden frieze. “It appears that it leads to Lux Enor. Your friend went to the highlord’s keep.”

  “What did he go there for?” Trendan blurted out. “It’s occupied by the enemy!” He cut his eyes at Kimala. “It’s too dangerous for us all to go. Let me go and find him—alone.”

  “Not a chance, scout. I know Naneden far better than you. It would be to your advantage to take me along.”

  “What about Fayne? How would she fit in at the highlord’s keep?”

  “I would fit in about as well as you!” Fayne retorted.

  On impulse, Trendan pushed the girls back and leaped into the portal. He was sure he could find a way to collapse the portal when he reached the other side. He had thought the ride would be instantaneous, like that of a Lora Daine, but it wasn’t. His head immediately began to swim, and it was as if he had to walk through a tunnel. The dragon magic of the Lora Daine is a much better way to travel, he thought to himself. No wonder the dragons made their own portal device, this one is nauseating. At the end of the swirling tunnel, Trendan could see Dorenn. He was standing at the exit portal looking directly at him. Dorenn was shaking his head.

  “Not yet, my friend, it’s too dangerous for you here.”

  “Dorenn, wait!”

  Dorenn held up his hands, clinched his fists, and opened his fingers in a sweeping gesture. The portal jumped to the next destination, and Trendan came stumbling out into darkness. The crystals on both sides lighted, and then Kimala and Fayne also came stumbling through the portal. The opening fell apart behind them as the portal closed.

  “What just happened?” Fayne asked, picking herself off the floor. Kimala sat nearby, rubbing her head.

  “The portal jumped to the next destination,” Trendan answered.

  Kimala shook her head. “How? I have never heard of such a thing. The portal is fixed on the same location until it is changed by the wielder opening the portal, and I didn’t change it.”

  Trendan leaned against the wall of the chamber. “I saw Dorenn at the end of the tunnel. I saw him do something with his hands and sweep aside the portal exit. He made it skip to the next destination. I don’t know how he did it, but it was obvious.”

  Kimala shook her head. “That doesn’t seem likely. The essence involved would be staggering. Last time I looked, Dorenn was a mere novice.”

  “Something must have changed because I know what I saw.”

  Kimala stared into Trendan’s eyes, and he could tell she was thinking, perhaps formulating a theory.

  “Lux Enor is close to the Sacred Land and the Sacred Land would have the essence required for a novice, but someone like Dorenn drawing that much essence over the distance between the Sacred Land and Lux Enor would likely do harm to himself or others. We need to get the portal connected back to Lux Enor.”

  “Wouldn’t the portal still be connected to Lux Enor?” Fayne asked. “I mean, if you opened it again from here.”

  “No, it would be connected to the portal chamber at Tippen’s Landing. Give me a few moments to regain my strength, and I will try to open it again and change the destination to Lux Enor,” Kimala said.

  Trendan inspected the doorway out of the chamber. “Take all the time you need. I will go outside and see if I can find out where we are. How does this doorway open?”

  “To open it without the use of magic you need to find the circular pattern on the door. It should be under a tree icon; just put your hand on it and push up. The door should swing out and open.”

  Trendan nodded. “I see it. So you can open this door without magic?”

  “Aye, it’s designed that way from the inside so no one would be trapped if they were unable to wield.”

  “That makes sense, I guess,” Trendan said while pushing up on the circular pattern. The door pushed out and opened as Kimala said it would. Trendan cautiously exited the chamber. The building surrounding the portal chamber was in ruins. From the look of it, Trendan surmised the building that contained the chamber had been in ruins since before the War of the Oracle. Some of the ancient pillars had signs of being out in the weather for hundreds of seasons. Only stone-carved furniture remained, and the roof was gone and open to the night sky.

  Outside of the ruined windows, he could see other structures, some crumbled but many still standing. He stood in an opening and surveyed his surroundings. He climbed up some stone stairs to stand on the second floor of a stone construction nearby. The silver moon shed its light upon a vast, ruined city as far as Trendan could see in the moonlight with his half-elven eyes. It appeared that the portal chamber was located in some sort of central complex, like a palace or some other kingly dwelling. He shivered as a cool breeze blew over the unprotected second story upon which he stood. Gauging the streets below, Trendan was struck with the eerie feeling that he was in the middle of a graveyard.

  In the distance, he could make out a faint light coming from inside one of the crumbled dwellings. It gave the impression of being t
he fading embers of a campfire. Trendan descended the stairs and went to the open portal chamber.

  “Any luck with the portal?” he asked.

  “I am still trying. It won’t budge from the Tippen’s Landing connection. I think it’s bonded there permanently now, courtesy of your friend. I don’t have the ability to open it anywhere else.”

  “I saw something in the distance. It looked like a campfire. I am going to go scout it out. Keep trying, and I will return shortly.”

  “Do you need me to come along?” Fayne asked.

  “No, I am not going to get too close. I just want to see what’s out there. From what I can see, we are in the ruin of a city.”

  “Aye, this portal has the name of the city engraved on it. Just a moment.” Kimala scanned the portal frieze for the name. “It’s By’temog, in Ishrak, the old capital.”

  “By’temog! I thought By’temog was cursed,” Fayne recalled.

  “I’ll be careful,” Trendan said. “I am going to close up this chamber just in case.” He pushed the portal chamber door down until it sealed.

  Trendan deftly sidestepped the ruined debris and headed toward the fading fire light in the distance. He stalked through the streets with a deadly silence. Occasionally he startled a rat or rabbit, which scurried off in a hurry, but otherwise he moved without incident. He had heard the stories of the cursed kingdom of Ishrak, but he never bothered to travel there. Without a reason, the trip was not practical, and the stories were, no doubt, exaggerated over time until they took on mythic proportions.

  At last, Trendan arrived at his destination. Just around the corner, he could see what looked like the dying flicker of a campfire against the inner wall of a ruined dwelling. He stalked to a nearby building, climbed up the vine-covered exterior to a partially destroyed rooftop to get a better view. Inside the building, lodged into the wall, was a stone about the size of a human torso. It pulsed and flickered by its own light. He observed the pulse for a few moments and then scanned the area, but not a soul stirred. He went in for a closer look. It is a stone. What harm could it possibly be to get a closer look? he thought. Trendan entered the room with the stone embedded into the wall. The light was soft and warm. It called to him somehow, making him feel safe and secure.