Darkness within, Bao thought. She is so earnest. She believes it.
And…did he? Two years in this land. Was he starting to believe? Had he accidentally found in this place the very thing he’d so long sought?
“The others always hated me,” he said to Shendla. “They named me ulikar, and spat at me. Not you. You followed me from the start. Why?”
“You do not want the answer to that,” she said, meeting his gaze. “It will weigh upon you.”
How well she knew him.
“I…” he found himself saying. “I will…protect this people, if I can.” Darkness within! He did believe. Only just a little, but he did believe.
“I know,” she whispered. “Go. I will wait here for you.”
Bao let his eyes linger on her, hearing Torn laugh as he told a story above. Then Bao summoned the Oneness and stepped down the path.
Bao kicked out the campfire. He had started it with the One Power, but now—in the light of morning—it seemed to be wise to avoid channeling. He did not know what awaited him inside Rai’lair, the Hearttomb. The guardian was said to be something ancient, and there were many ancient things that could sense channeling.
He continued on his trek. His sleep had come fitfully these two nights of his journey. Perhaps he should have Traveled directly to the entrance of the cavern, but that would have been…cheating. A piece of him laughed that he thought of it so. What cared he for such rules?
Strangely, he did care. More and more, he wanted to be the Wyld to this people. They were a means, a tool, but a man could treat his tools well. Too many of Bao’s associates would break or cast aside a tool once their interest waned.
He stepped up beside the River of Souls. It did not look like much, more a stream than a true river, if a fast-moving one. The babbling noises it made accompanied him down the long decline, always his companion. At times, its noises sounded like whispers. Perhaps that was where it had earned its name.
He filled his canteen from it. Only the Wyld could drink its waters, and he wanted to taste them as soon as he achieved his goal. Eventually, he saw the maw of the Hearttomb opening before him. He checked the sun. Still early in the day. Could he be done and return in time? By prophecy, he was supposed to return from the pit at sunset on the third day. How would the people react if he fulfilled their prophecies in all other ways, but then failed to do so in time?
He arrived at the point where the river descended into the cavern. The stone face of the rock here was worked into the shape of a man and a woman kneeling, heads bowed. And…was that the image of a chora tree, carved behind them? Time had worn the rock face deeply; he could not make it out for certain.
He seized the One Power and entered the cavern. Amazingly, the inside was overgrown with foliage. Ferns and saplings lined the river as it ran into the darkness. Bao frowned, then spun a web to create a light for himself. Better to risk a small amount of channeling than to continue forward in the dark.
He anticipated the plants vanishing as he went deeper, but they did not. Against all logic, they continued; they bloomed, though the land above was in the Great Lord’s grip.
So, Bao thought, walking deeper, the tomb’s guardian is one of the Nym? He had not expected this.
One of the vines at his feet moved.
Bao channeled, releasing a blast of fire at the vine. The fire hit, but it had an unexpected effect—where the web touched the vine, more sprouted out. The room started to shake.
Ahead of him, the darkness trembled, and his light shone on the interior of a horrible maw that stretched from floor to ceiling. Needle-sharp teeth stood in array all the way down its greenish throat. What looked like insectile arms broke up through the twisting plants, long and slender, reaching for him.
Bao cursed, unsheathing his sword. During these last two years he had honed his skill back into top form, and he now considered himself the equal of any man. As those arms came for him, he hacked and sliced, weaving between them in the ancient sword forms. He separated the insectile arms at the joints, leaving them twitching on the ground.
He now knew what he faced. Somehow, a juvenile jumara must have crawled into this cavern and gone through its pupation and transformation. The resulting Shadowspawn was too large to squeeze back out; he saw only its mouth and some of its tendrils and spines. Jumara strengthened when the One Power was used against them.
Aginor, I hope you burn, wherever you are, Bao thought. He had always hated these creatures.