"Well, I suppose we'll have to cross too then," Ella said.
"Ella, you don't understand. This city has remained hidden for a reason. From here to Petrya is a difficult journey, yes, but there is more to it than that. Only a large group of warriors can cross. The three of us would not make it through alive."
"Why not?"
"The Devil of Lyra. That is why not."
"What's the Devil of Lyra?" Ella asked.
"It is a creature," Jehral said. "It first appeared nearly a hundred years ago at the Oasis of Lyra, the only oasis between this city and the lands of Petrya. Sixty men stopped for water at the oasis, for the desert cannot be crossed without refuelling there. Four men came out alive."
"Ella," Shani said, looking intently at her. "My wish is to see a new High Lord of Petrya, but I don't know how these desert men intend to treat my people. We must cross the desert."
"Then, Jehral," Ella said. "If we're going to cross the desert and potentially face this creature, I suggest you give us our possessions back."
18
KILLIAN once more sat in the same tavern, The Light Shines Above, again glaring up at Stonewater. He took a perverse satisfaction from drinking here, with priests and templars coming and going and scenes from the Evermen Cycles on the walls. A placard advertised, The Evermen Shall Return! Not in my lifetime, Killian thought.
He now knew why Evrin had left him, and where the old man had been all this time, but he was no closer to discovering Evrin's present whereabouts. He'd returned to the Temple of the Sky day after day, but there was still no sign of the old man, no message telling him where he should go or what he should do next.
He again considered what he knew, and what he'd learned from Zavros.
Evrin wanted to destroy a book of the Evermen. Instead, the Primate now had the book. Evrin had been imprisoned, but he had escaped from the dungeons and disappeared.
Killian knew that whatever knowledge Evrin had tried to destroy, it must be important, and that Killian needed to do all he could to help the old man. Wherever he found Evrin, he would find the book, and wherever he found the book, he would find Evrin.
Killian looked up at the mountain, home of the Primate, and suddenly planted his tankard on the wooden table as it hit him.
Wherever he found the book, he would find Evrin.
The Primate had the book.
Killian needed to find the Primate.
He gulped down the dark beer in his tankard and left a coin on the table, dashing out to the street.
Killian's new found enthusiasm waned. The Primate had left on some errand, and Zavros hadn't said where he was going, or when he would be back in Stonewater, if he even knew.
Who would know where next the Primate would be? Zavros had said Killian would never find him, that the Primate had gone on a journey. Where could the Primate have gone? To Halaran in the west? Petrya in the south? Tingara in the north? When he returned from his journey, would it be back to Stonewater? Or would it be to Seranthia?
Killian turned and walked back into the tavern, sighing. When he reached the bar he scanned the bottles of dark liquid on the top shelf.
"You look like you could use a drink," the barman said. "What'll it be?"
Killian opened his mouth to order, and then had a thought. "You get a lot of people from the Assembly through here, don't you? Templars and the like?"
"Are you kidding?" The barman raised an eyebrow, inclining his head at the men in white grouped around the clean wooden tables.
"I've travelled all the way to Stonewater to see the Primate, even if it's just from a distance, but he's not here. Have you heard any of them say where he is?"
"Let's see. He came back from the west and spent some time in Stonewater. Something big happened there, and they're still cleaning up. Then he left for the north, but somewhere further north than Seranthia. Now, he's on his way to Seranthia."
Killian's eyes grew round. "How do you know all that?"
The barman shrugged. "Primates need guards, servants, drudges and carriages. Carriages and drudges need cleaning and maintenance. Guards and servants need food and drink. I know he's on his way to Seranthia because they're taking pigeons there, because they've packed up the Primate's study and sent it there, and because the rest of the Primate's personal guard have left for Seranthia. People talk."
Killian placed a coin on the bar. "You have that drink for me."
"Sure," the barman said, pocketing the coin.
Killian once again left the tavern, but this time he knew his destination clearly. He would go to Seranthia, he would find this book, and he would find Evrin Evenstar.
As Killian took the road north to Seranthia, a canvas backpack on his shoulder, the setting sun cast a glow on his back, causing his fiery red hair to shine like a flame.
~
BACK in Salvation, a woman arrived at the Temple of the Sky, a piece of paper in her hand. "I have a message I was given by an old pilgrim," the woman said to the priest. "Could you please give it to a young man with red hair and blue eyes?"
19