“I was hoping you might know that.” Rowan gestured across the runes written into the stones. “That’s Necromancer writing.”
Moving closer, I carefully scanned the runes. “This says it’s a gateway to the Eternal Lands. It goes to the court of the Sire of Souls or to the garden of the Lady of Creation.”
“Do you think it’s real?”
“If you’d asked me a year ago, I would have told you the Sire of Souls and the Lady of Creation were nothing more than children’s stories.” Since then, I’d met both of those deities in real life. In fact, they were the ones who helped me defeat the Tsar and send him into exile. “I’ve no doubt this gateway is precisely what it claims to be.”
“And what can you tell me of these?” Rowan knelt before the archway. His candlelight flickered over a pile of insect carcasses.
I crouched beside him for a better look. “These are bone crawlers. It’s one of the spells that only the Tsar can cast.” The Tsar was unique in that he could combine Creation Caster and Necromancer magick at will. His hybrid magick gave bone crawlers like these their insect side. His Necromancer power created their flexible bone shells.
Rowan frowned. “But why would he create bone crawlers here?”
“I don’t think he created them here; I believe he brought them in. Every one of the Tsar’s followers is implanted with a bone crawler. These creatures can drain our magick.” I’d seen this happen firsthand too. The thought made me shake with rage. “But bone crawlers can also store magick, just like a totem ring.”
“So he brought them here for extra power.”
“Precisely.”
“And what would he need more energy for?”
“My guess? Passing through a gateway can be hard work. He might have left these here to help him return from his journey. I’ve heard of regular Sisters doing something similar with gateways and totem rings.”
Rowan rubbed his chin. “Still, there may be other explanations. Perhaps he was merely experimenting with casting bone crawlers. He could have done the spells here to keep them secret.”
“Not likely.” I pointed at different dark marks on the shells. “See these burn marks? There’s no mistaking the signs. Magick was placed into these creatures and then drained away. The marks are clear enough, but…” I shook my head “I just can’t believe the Tsar wanted to visit the Eternal Lands.”
Rowan chuckled. “It explains a few things to me.”
“Like what?”
“In my opinion, the Sire and Lady always seemed overly concerned about the Tsar’s welfare. In fact, they insisted you send him into exile instead of killing him, right?”
“I couldn’t even raise a hand against the man.” Although I very much wanted to.
“Precisely. I always suspected there was some history between them. This proves it. There was a time when Tsar visited the Sire and Lady.”
I stared at the gateway. The Tsar and the god and goddess. It was possible. Still, what was he doing there? Some divining spells would give me answers. I tried to pull in magick, but the wards were still too strong.
Well, there are ways to see things without magick.
Reaching out, I set my palm against the gateway’s smooth stones. Magick slammed into me. Fresh images began to appear in my mind.
“Elea, are you all right?” Rowan’s voice echoed as if he were standing many leagues away.
“I’m seeing something. Gateways can hold the image where they lead to, assuming you’ve been there before.”
“But you’ve never visited the Eternal Lands, have you?”
“Not that I know of.” I gritted my teeth as an image appeared in my mind: the darkened tent where I’d first met the Sire and Lady. This was the place where I’d eventually sent the Tsar. His eternal prison. I’d assumed it existed on some nameless magickal plain. It didn’t.
I’d sent the Tsar to the Eternal Lands.
I dropped my hand and stepped backward. “This is very bad.”
“What did you see?”
“The Tsar is exiled in the Eternal Lands.” A chill of realization crept up my neck. And he could use a gateway just like this one in order to escape. “The Tsar’s a master schemer. He might have suspected that the Sire and Lady wanted to send him into exile. Even worse, he might have known they’d send him to the Eternal Lands.”
Rowan frowned. “If that’s true, then the Tsar might need extra magick for the return trip… Something to help him cross back.”
I hugged my elbows as more pieces of the puzzle fell into place. “The Tsar built the original dungeons where the Necromancers were drained. I’ll bet he chose a location with a gateway. It’s just the kind of failsafe that he’d put in place.” A shiver rolled across my shoulders. “The Tsar could be returning.” I paced the floor and bit back a groan. “This is a catastrophe.”
Rowan stepped into my path, forcing me to stop. “We can’t worry about the Tsar just now.”