So many dead.
Exeres hurried away, slipping down another alleyway, and tried to compose himself. Tears pricked his eyes and he wept in the stillness, gasping for breath. It unmanned him that people would treat life with such disdain. Life was precious, in all its forms. To mock it like that…it chilled his heart.
After calming himself, Exeres went through the back alleys of Castun to the fringe of the town. He did not know what it was, but something drew him there. As if an invisible cord tugged his soul to the lone canopy of a tent beyond the rim of firelight. Memories flickered in his mind. He had seen that tent in the moors outside of Landmoor. The curtains concealed what lay inside, but just the freshness of its memories sent a chill of fear through his innards.
—I will protect you—
“I am not a fool,” Exeres whispered bitterly. “You will let me die if it serves your ends. Let’s be done with this.”
—She’s standing to your left, in the shadows. Don’t look at her—
Exeres couldn’t help it. He jerked in reaction to the words and saw her, Miestri, arms folded, eyes gleaming as she stared at the crowds swarming the center of town. His blind eye watched as she fed from their energy, drawing little nibbles of their life into her. How could a man know if an hour was stolen from his life? Or a full year?
How many had she stolen from him as he lay collapsed on a pallet in her tent?
—Your thoughts will draw her to you. Focus on the tent. Hurry now, before she returns to it—
Exeres swallowed and darted into the shadows. The slope of the tent curtains and the smells emanating from it made him want to retch. The smells were cloying, putrid, a mix of harshness and disease. The wind gusted across his face, making him blink away more tears. The smells ravaged his Shae senses. His boots kicked up puffs of dust.
Another thunderclap of cheers broke from the center of town. He risked a look back and saw Miestri smiling. She seemed to be savoring the violence.
—Stop looking at her, fool!—
Sweat popped out on his forehead, dampening his shirt, making him desire to flee screaming into the woods. This was madness! The old man would leave him to die. He tried to break free of the grip on him, but it was like lifting iron with a feather.
—Boy, if you want to live, stop fighting me! I’m trying to save you from her—
The weeds whisked and hissed as he stepped behind the tent into the darkness behind the pavilion. He hunched over, trembling, remembering the awfulness of his experiences there. Her smile and touch. The drink—oh, sweet Achrolese, what she had made him drink! The taste of it had never left him once his memories had returned. The taste he craved more than anything else.
He looked back at her again.
A sizzle of pain between his eyes dropped him to the ground, writhing in agony. For a moment, he could not remember his name, only the blinding pulsing fury that raged inside his temples. He lay gasping as it eased.
—Boy, listen to me. She has you in her bonds. She planted these thoughts in your mind should you ever see her again. She wants you to give yourself away that she might know you are near. If she becomes aware of you, she will fight to control you. If you want me to help you win that fight, you must do as I say. You have a Seeing Eye. Is there anyone inside the tent?—
Exeres took his breaths in gulps, still recovering from the shock of the pain. He rolled over, staring at the sturdy rope looped through the tent stakes that drew the canopy taut.
—Do not touch it. She has the tent warded. If you touch it, she will know. Now look—tell me if you see other Life magic within—
Swallowing his fear, Exeres crouched by the tent and closed his good eye. He saw Life magic draining away from a person inside the tent. Someone young and human by the pace of the magic’s ebbing.
“Yes. A human,” he whispered.
—Only one?—
“Yes. Only one.”
Silence in his mind.
—It could be her or not. You are certain it is human?—
“Yes. I can tell by how quickly the magic drains from them. Human and someone young. Not an infant—it could be a young soldier. Or it could be Ticastasy.”
—It is enough. It is time to challenge her for control of you. Are you ready?—
Exeres exhaled, aware of only the pang of doubt in his heart. The old man was going to abandon the battle if it grew too fierce. Despair flooded into him next. Crickets chirped from the weeds around him, little pinpricks of Earth magic.
“I am ready.”
—Good. Then walk into the center of town and say what I tell you to say. When the darkness falls, return to this place and free her. We’re counting on you, Exeres. Do not fail—
*