Shadowborn Page 22

  “I imagine it’ll be even worse if I die,” Clara said. “I’ve left a note beneath my pillow. My parents will know of your involvement come morning, so pray your advice is accurate.”

  “Such unearned coldness,” Johan said. “Before the first knight set foot on your island I warned of the dangers Center presented. Yesterday’s destruction shows I have spoken truth, and only truth, since the day I began anointing disciples. If you think I am pleased by what has come to pass, you’re wrong. I warned against danger, and then the danger came. All the world would be a better place if I were wrong, and Marius were a far better man than he is.”

  Clara took a step back, accepting the rebuke. Bree positioned herself in the way, trying to draw the discussion back to the matters at hand.

  “I have my group as you requested,” she said. “Do you know of my brother’s location?”

  “I do,” Johan said. “Well, to be more precise, I know where he will be come tomorrow morning. He is scheduled for a quiet execution at sunrise before an audience of military and wealthy elite. I believe Marius wants to keep it a small affair to avoid additional ire from Archon Willer. Both sides have their prisoners, and I anticipate Kael will be one who they claim died before any possible negotiations could take place.”

  “Can you get us there?” Bree asked.

  “Myself, no,” Johan said. “But I have spies on all islands, little Phoenix, and that includes Center. I will tell you where to meet one of them, and he will provide a safe house until morning. Then he will point you toward the execution. Beyond that, Kael’s life will be in your hands.”

  “How will we make it to your spy safely?” Chernor asked. Despite Johan’s arguments, he appeared no happier to be in the man’s presence. “Center is sure to be crawling with knights watching for our retaliation.”

  “Indeed,” Johan said. “But retaliation from an entire army, not a small squad. Their numbers are far too diminished to fully patrol Center’s perimeter. Fly fast, and fly low, and I believe you have a good chance to make it unnoticed.”

  Johan pulled out a small piece of cloth and handed it to Bree. A flick of her wrist lit a spark of flame to dance atop her gauntlet, granting light to see. The pale cloth was marked with ink, revealing a map of sorts indicating a dock with five piers, a lake, and two burning fires.

  “Center will be difficult to navigate in the dark,” Johan said. “But there are a few landmarks that are still easily locatable. Fly low above the ocean and keep close to the crawling darkness. Come up along Center’s eastern side, searching for the proper dock. It’ll be one of the smaller ones, used solely for transporting the wealthy between the islands. From there, follow the map until you see the final signal ten miles inland. My disciple, Dunneg, will be waiting for you there. Please, show caution, and if you are spotted, do not attempt to find him. If you come unseen, he will grant you shelter. If you come with knights on your heels, he will be there to watch you die.”

  “A cheery scenario,” Saul said. “How do we get off Weshern unseen?”

  Johan gave him a wry smile.

  “Weshern is your home,” he said. “I trust you will be able to manage that on your own.”

  “Thank you,” Bree said, interrupting a potential response from Saul. “We won’t forget the risks you and your disciples took to help us save Kael.”

  “I am eyes and ears for the truth,” Johan said. “It will be you five who extend your necks before Center’s executioner and dare him to swing. But I’m sure you will be fine. The angels, after all, most certainly watch over you.”

  Johan bowed low and then left smiling.

  “I still think he’s a creepy little shit stain,” Chernor said once he was gone. “I hope you’re right to trust him, Bree.”

  She chuckled.

  “So do I.”

  The midnight shadow flowed beneath them atop the angry waters of the Endless Ocean. If Bree stretched, she might touch it with her fingertips, but she didn’t dare. Merely being close to it left her feeling terribly uneasy. To some extent, she now knew what it was: a part of the shadowborn. Did it watch them? Could it rise up at will, a formless blob of rot and evil to grab her body and drag it below the water?

  Bree tilted her back and rose a few feet higher. Hell if she knew, but better safe than sorry.

  Chernor let a brief crackle of electricity light up his hand so they might see his signal.

  Almost here.

  One of Center’s three tremendous Beams was close to their right, the Fount about it dwarfing those raised by the outer islands. They were deep in Center’s shadow, hidden from the stars, but still the crawling darkness was shades blacker than the night itself. She saw it gathered around the Fount, remaining still instead of being sucked up with the rest of the water. Bree thought of it crawling up the Fount and shivered. So much they didn’t know about their foe. So many possibilities that sounded like nightmares.

  Chernor angled them toward the curved shadow rimmed with stars that was Center’s eastern edge. Johan’s prediction had been correct so far. The few knights they’d spotted patrolled several miles inward from the island edge. Even if one of them spotted their group during the approach there was little the knight could do. Seraphim from Candren, Sothren, and Elern also flew the airspace between the islands, keeping tabs on Center’s movements. So long as they weren’t noticed curling up and over Center’s landmass, they would remain safe.

  The black ring grew in detail the closer they flew, revealing uneven edges, trickles of waterfalls, and long piers. Bree searched for their intended landmark: five piers closely linked together at a dock. She saw several larger docks, but nothing matching the drawing on the map. Chernor guided them northward at a fast clip, keeping the island several hundred yards above. The longer they lurked below Center, the higher the chance a random knight discovered their presence.

  Saul was the first to spot their destination, and he flew equal to Chernor to point it out. Their squadron angled to the west and emerged on the other side. There it was, five squat piers hanging over the edge of the island. Starlight shone upon them, leaving Chernor’s hand symbols easily visible.

  I’ll scout.

  The four fell into a hover while Chernor slowly glided toward the pier, his wings dull and barely humming. Bree drew her swords, just in case. A minute crawled by before Chernor reached the island edge. The man took hold of one of the piers and shut off his wings, hung there for another minute, and then pulled himself up. Bree held her breath, her thumbs drumming atop the hilt of her swords. Chernor was up there for less than a minute but still it felt like an eternity.

  Safe, he signaled.

  Bree took lead, carefully rising to join Chernor on the pier. One by one they landed on the creaking wood and shut off their wings.

  “Quieter than I expected,” Saul whispered. A lone path led inward from the pier, cutting through the brief stretch of grass before entering a towering pine forest.

  “And much appreciated,” Chernor said. “Where to next, Bree?”

  She unrolled the small cloth map Johan had given her. An arrow pointed away from the dock, leading to an uneven circle she assumed was a lake.

  “Northwest,” she said. “Look for water.”

  Chernor took lead, the five passing over the tips of the pines. Bree let them brush against her hands, their hard caress soothing. In mere moments the trees ceased, replaced by a wide swath of blackened trunks and ash-covered ground.

  The fireborn, thought Bree. They ruined even the beauty here.

  At least half the forest was burned away in long, uneven patches. The shadow of it increased Bree’s discomfort. Despite all the terrible destruction Marius had unleashed with his assault on Weshern, he still was not their true enemy. Their true enemy would bring Center crashing down as readily as he did Galen.

  Dim lights of a sleepy town lay ahead of them. Chernor started to shift to avoid the town, but seemed to think better of it. Did it matter if any townsfolk spotted them? They’d be
long gone before any might summon a knight to chase. Bree swallowed down a shiver and raced overhead. Despite the town’s quaint size, the buildings themselves were several stories tall and massive compared to those on Weshern. Bree wished for a world where she could walk among them, seeing the sights and meeting the people.

  The pleasant thoughts vanished in another wave of burned and crumpled buildings. It struck Bree how similar it felt to flying over Weshern after Center had retreated from their invasion. So much death. So much loss. They all suffered. Why could they not see the common thread of humanity they shared? Why not face the frightful enemy seeking their total annihilation?

  Lower, Chernor signaled, immediately diving. The others followed, dropping below the rooftops of the homes as they flew along one of the streets. Bree spared quick glances in both directions, searching for what spooked Chernor. If there was a knight, they were distant and blocked by the homes. Chernor kept them low, their wings rattling windows with their passing. They cut through another burned part of town, following it all the way out. Green hills awaited them, and Chernor followed their bumps and dips, mere feet above the ground. Tense minutes passed, the empty sky above their only reassurance.

  They didn’t spot the lake until they flew right above it. The hills dropped suddenly into cliffs, and far below was a grand lake with houses nestled against every inch of its shoreline. Chernor immediately looped back around and landed atop the cliffs overlooking the lake.

  “Where now?” he asked.

  Bree checked her map.

  “Straight west,” she said. “We’re supposed to look for two fires side by side.”

  “Guess that shouldn’t be too hard to find,” Chernor said. “Are they in a field somewhere, or a town …?”

  “Hey, we’ve got company,” Saul said, turning their attention the way they came. A single golden speck pierced the night sky like a comet.

  “Do you think we were spotted?” Amanda asked.

  “Doesn’t look like it’s chasing after us,” Chernor said, squinting at the distant shimmer. “No time to wait for them to leave. We’ll use the cliffs to hide our wings.”

  Chernor leapt off the cliff with his hands forward in a dive. Bree followed, free-falling against the wind. When they were halfway down they flooded life into their wings, curling upward while banking to the west. Rippling reflections of their wings chased them across the lake. The sprawling town was terribly dense against the water but, once beyond, it opened into another field of green pockmarked with burns. Bree glanced over her shoulder, unable to fight the paranoia. If they’d been seen before landing on the cliff for even an instant …

  They were two miles from the lake when the golden image shimmered over the cliffs. Bree swore as she dove to the town below. She scanned for a secluded spot, found several storage barns on the town’s edge, and then landed between them. The others followed her lead, and they one by one landed and turned off their wings.

  “That knight followed us,” Bree said. “We must have been seen.”

  “We can kill one knight,” Saul insisted.

  “But it won’t be just one knight,” Chernor said, shaking his head. “We start throwing fire and lightning and we’ll attract knights for miles in all directions. We can’t afford the risk.”

  “Are you sure we were spotted?” Amanda asked. “What if it’s just a coincidence?”

  A fair enough point. Bree hugged the edge of the barn and stepped around. The gold-winged knight shone like a distant star. No matter how long she waited, it never changed course.

  “Shit,” she said, stepping back. “Whoever it is may not be certain, but they’re definitely looking.”

  “We don’t have time to wait,” Chernor said. “Daylight’s getting closer. Once the people wake we won’t make it ten feet without being spotted.”

  “I say we at least wait and see,” Bree said. “Maybe this is just their patrol path. Our destination’s close. We can afford the delay.”

  Chernor shrugged but didn’t argue. They could easily hide between the barns during the knight’s pass overhead. The five didn’t speak, only hugged the sides of the barns and waited. The golden wings grew more defined, shining on a dark form with a white tunic. For a long, tense moment he pierced the sky above them, cutting through the middle of the town. Bree breathed a sigh of relief. They weren’t spotted. The knight was leaving town.

  Except he wasn’t. The moment he reached the edge of town he curled back around, following the town’s edge. He circled it over and over as the minutes dragged on. Slowly, steadily. Like a vulture. Like a bird of prey on the hunt.

  “What do we do?” Amanda whispered.

  “He saw us land near the town,” Chernor whispered back. “Maybe not all of us, though. He might not even be certain there’s anyone here. I can use that to my advantage. I’ll fly east to distract him. The rest of you, get your butts to Johan’s contact.”

  Saul stepped forward, adamantly shaking his head.

  “No, not you,” he said. “I’ll do it.”

  “You forget your place, boy,” Chernor said. His glare alone sent Saul back against the barn. “I outrank all of you combined. I’m doing this. It’s the only way I can know for certain it gets done right.”

  Bree thought of watching Aisha and Loramere soar into the sky in opposite directions, flying to their deaths to protect her and her brother during the Academy’s evacuation. It was happening again. She couldn’t allow this. She couldn’t bear the guilt a second time.

  “He’ll give up soon,” she said, grabbing Chernor’s arm. “He’ll search elsewhere while we move on foot.”

  “That knight’s not leaving,” Chernor said, shoving her away. His eyes were wide, his face more terrifying than she’d ever seen before. “If we do nothing, we all die. I’ll guide him away. Me, just me.”

  “There’s got to be something else we can try,” Bree insisted. “We … we’ll stay together, we’ll fight. We’ll win. That’s what we do.”

  Chernor removed the maul from his back and tossed it to the ground.

  “Bree, please,” he said. “This is hard enough.”

  Bree bit her tongue and stepped away. What few tears trickled down her cheeks she quickly wiped away.

  “Fly fast,” she said. “Fly well.”

  Chernor let out a soft chuckle and smiled at the whole lot of them.

  “You better save Kael’s sorry ass,” he said. “I’ll be very, very pissed off if you don’t.”

  The others saluted with fists against their breasts. Bree joined in late, the thud of her fingers against her jacket a dull stake into her heart. Her friend turned his back to them, ignited his wings, and streaked east. Bree watched him fly, the knight immediately curling after. They quickly became two glowing orbs among the stars. Bree waited. None of them said a word. A second golden star rose from the north, joining the chase. A third from the south. Still Chernor flew on, his silver orb becoming a star, a dot, a speck, a nothing.

  “Let’s go,” Bree said. She spoke the words like a death sentence.

  They flew over the rooftops, no other patrolling knights in sight. The town below ended, replaced with the ruins of a great forest burned down to blackened husks that were once tree trunks. Beyond that came another town, and along its eastern edge burned two small campfires side by side, a shadow of a man waiting between them with his hands in his pockets. Bree landed first, her wings quieting as she drifted to the ground.

  Their contact was a man in plain brown pants, a faded shirt, and a woven grass hat atop his bald head. He spat out a wad of something he’d been chewing and welcomed them all with a nod.

  “Shut off your wings and follow me,” Dunneg said, extinguishing the fires.

  Dunneg’s home wasn’t large but he had two rooms to spare for the night. Saul and Clara shared one, Amanda and Bree the other.

  “It’ll be just like at the Academy,” Amanda said. “And you’ll likely spend all night staring out the window like you used to as well.”r />
  “Except I won’t be watching for boys,” Bree said, smiling. “Well, not good ones, anyway.”

  “Dean was never a good boy. You’d not have been so in love with him if he had.”

  Bree laughed as she took off her jacket. Their harnesses were all stored in a shed behind the house along with their gauntlets and prisms. Though she felt naked without her wings, she still had her swords, and Bree laid them carefully beside the thick blanket on the floor that would be her bed.

  “Dean was the first to push me toward what I could do instead of condemning me for what I couldn’t,” Bree said, the melancholy falling not unwelcome across her heart. For such a long time she’d been thoroughly worthless at her flame element, a mockery at the very bottom of her class. Dean had never once belittled her for it. They’d trained with swords day after day despite knowing she would likely never make it past the six-month evaluation. Swordplay had been her love, as it had been his, and he had invited her to share it without judgment or hesitation.

  “I only met him a few times,” Amanda said. She settled atop her own blanket, her jacket bunched up to be a pillow. “He seemed nice.”

  “He was,” Bree said, as if that could cover it all. “He really was.”

  Someone knocked on the door twice, then waited.

  “Come in,” Amanda called.

  The door slid open. Saul peeked around the corner. He was dressed down to his pants and white shirt, his arms crossed over his chest.

  “Hey, Amanda, it all right if I speak to Bree for a few minutes, alone?”

  “It’s fine,” Amanda said, hopping to her feet. “I won’t mind keeping Clara company.”

  She paused to pat Saul on the shoulder as she left. He stepped inside, shut the door behind him, and then leaned against it.

  “I want to make sure you’re ready to do this,” Saul said. “It’s not too late to turn back.”

  “Turn back?” Bree asked. “Chernor already died getting us here, and my brother will die tomorrow if we do nothing.”

  “We don’t know that he’s dead yet. And besides, Chernor dying doesn’t force us to our own deaths,” Saul argued. “We can turn back. We can always turn back, so long as we are willing to bear the consequences. You’re here to save Kael’s life. I’m here to tell you that you can make a decision that might save Clara’s, Amanda’s, yours, and mine. And yes, Bree, it is a choice you’ll be making, no matter how hard you try to pretend otherwise.”