"Speaking Silvan well does not make you a Shae,” Justin mocked.
“I suppose it doesn’t,” Jaerod replied, sitting on the carpet of pine needles. “But not even Shenalle can make a human into a Shae. The best we can do is act like you. And try to do better,” he added with a barb. Before Justin could rally a retort, the Sleepwalker raised his hand. “I was taught by the Shae. As was my friend here.” He nodded to Allavin. Jaerod looked Justin in the eye. “I understand the source of your distrust, Warder. In your day, the Shae cowered here in the valley, praying that the Empire of Sol-don-Orai would leave them alone. It would have taken more than Warder Shae and Wolfsmen to call off the Empire’s flying cities and you knew that back then.”
Justin tensed. “I was there, human. Do not pretend to know what it was like.”
Jaerod smirked. “Too many years asleep in the Earth magic has its consequences, Warder. You don’t remember as much as you wish you did. But the devastation that the Empire brought on itself was enough to cause your watchpost concern. Concern enough to seek the aid of the Mages of Safehome. When they grant the desires of the Shae, there is always a price. And the coin chosen is never the same. What do you remember of your Warding when the Mages chose you to defend it?”
Justin’s mouth dipped into an angry curl, but he kept his temper wrapped up in his robes. “Why should I reveal anything to you?”
“Because I know more than you think I do. Maybe I can help you remember who you are.”
Justin didn’t look convinced. “I will say what I can, human. The Mages chose me for the Warding because of my youth and expertise in taming the Earth magic. It was not certain how long the war in Sol-don-Orai would last. I protected the Everoot that was taken from Sol-don-Orai and planted here. To preserve and cultivate it that its magic would not be lost from this world. If the Warding was disturbed, I was to intervene.”
Sturnin Goff appeared out of the darkness. He’d left his roan in Castun, but he was wearing his traveling armor, which was dented and spattered with blood. He nodded to them before nestling against a crooked cedar tree nearby.
The Sleepwalker nodded to him before turning to face Justin. “Do you remember when the Warding was breached?”
Justin shook his head no. “When I awoke, I was in the tunnels of my watchpost. Everything was in ruin. I thought that the Solarian war had already ended, that we had lost and the Warding had failed. But the humans I discovered in the tunnels did not speak Silvan or the tongue of the Empire. I came to realize that they were not Solarians at all. They were descendants with a garbled language. The watchpost hadn’t fallen, it was abandoned, covered with earth, and being subsumed by the moors.”
Jaerod rubbed his mouth. “What was your directive if the watchpost was to fall? Do you remember?”
The Warder Shae folded his arms. “I cannot tell you that. All I can say is that I am to seek the Heir of Quicksilver.”
Thealos looked at Jaerod in confusion, and the Sleepwalker held up his hand to forestall any questions. “Why?” Jaerod asked.
“I…I can’t tell you.”
“Do you remember? It was part of the Warding,” Jaerod insisted. “They were linked – the Everoot and the Silverkin Crystal. If the Warding was breached, the Silverkin would call for help.”
Justin looked disgusted that Jaerod knew so much. “Then I won’t bother lying to you,” he said archly. “You are right. There is another magic in the tunnels. But it was Warded as well. Only the Heir can reach through this Warding. I do not know what the talisman is or how it was supposed to work.”
“What did the Warding look like?” Jaerod pressed.
“The other Warding?” Justin shifted and tugged his robes around himself. “An Otsquare,” he answered.
Allavin Devers whistled.
“You know of an Otsquare?” Justin demanded incredulously to the woodsman. “By the gods, is nothing sacred in this era?”
Allavin raised his hands defensively. “I’ve seen the Otsquare, but I thought they were only found in the Riven Wood. They are Forbidden to humans. I do not know what they mean, but I know they are held sacred.”
Justin gave Jaerod a challenging look.
Jaerod replied with a calm smile, “You are right, Allavin. An Otsquare forbids any human to pass. Not even a legion of Bandits can cross it. Not even a Sorian.”
The Warder Shae raised an eyebrow. “So the Sorian are involved in this.”
Jaerod nodded. “Two, this time. One you will remember from Sol-don-Orai. The Emperor’s advisor, Mage.” Justin nodded in recognition. “The other made her home with the Shae in the Kingshadow – Miestri of the Vale.”
Thealos shook his head, not understanding. “Who are these Sorian?”