Fire Study (5 page)

“We think so, but we want Yelena to identify the Soulstealer.”

“Why?” I asked. The Sandseeds didn’t waste time on trials and incarceration.

They executed criminals on capture.

However, the Daviian Vermin had been very hard to find, and they had powerful

magicians. The Vermin were a group of Sandseed youths who had become

discontented with the Sandseed lifestyle of keeping to themselves and limiting

contact with the other clans. The Vermin wanted the Sandseed Story Weavers to use

their great powers to guide all of Sitia and not just the inhabitants of the plains.

They had broken from the Sandseed Clan and settled in the Daviian Plateau,

becoming the Daviian Clan. The plateau’s dry and inhospitable soil made farming a

nightmare, so the Daviians stole from the Sandseeds, and earned the nickname of

Vermin. The Sandseeds also referred to the Vermin’s magicians as Warpers, since

they used their magic for selfish reasons.

“You need to identify the Soulstealer because he may have harvested more souls,

and only you can release those souls before we kill him,” Moon Man said with a flat

and emotionless voice.

I grabbed his arm. “Have you found any bodies?”

“No. But I am concerned about what we will discover when we raid their camp.”

The horror of the last two seasons threatened to overwhelm me. Eleven girls

mutilated and raped by Ferde so he could steal their souls and gain more magical

power. Valek and I had stopped him before he could collect the final soul. If he had

succeeded, Sitia and Ixia would now be his to rule. Instead, I had released all those

souls to the sky. To think that he might have started again was unbearable.

“You’ve found their camp?” Leif asked.

“Yes. We put our lives on hold,” Moon Man said. “The warriors of the clan have

done a complete sweep of the plateau. We found a large encampment on the

southern edge near the border of the Illiais Jungle.”

And close to my family. I must have gasped because Moon Man touched my

shoulder and squeezed.

“Do not worry about your clan. Every Sandseed warrior is ready to attack if the

Vermin show any signs of departing their camp. We will leave when the horses are

rested.”

I paced around the campfire, knowing I should get some sleep but unable to still

my racing thoughts. Leif groomed the horses and Marrok slept. Moon Man reclined

next to the fire, staring at the sky.

Marrok woke as the sky darkened. His eye had stopped weeping blood, and the

swelling was gone. He probed his cheek with a finger. Amazement lit his face until he

spotted Moon Man standing next to him. He jumped to his feet and pulled his

sword, brandishing the weapon at the Story Weaver. Even armed, Marrok looked

slight next to the muscular Sandseed, who towered six inches over him.

Moon Man laughed. “I see you are feeling better. Come. We have plans to

make.”

The four of us sat around the fire while Leif made dinner. Marrok settled next to

me, and from the corner of my eye I could see that whenever Marrok touch his

cheek, he stared at Moon Man with a fearful fascination. And his right hand never

strayed far from the hilt of his sword.

“We will leave at dawn,” Moon Man said.

“Why does everything have to start at dawn?” I asked. “The horses have good

night vision.”

“That will give the horses a full day to recover. I will be riding with you on Kiki.

She is the strongest. And once we reach the plateau, there will be no rest stops until

we join the others.”

“And then what?” I asked.

“Then we will attack. You are to stay close to me and the other Story Weavers.

The Soulstealer will be protected along with the Warpers. Once we break through

the outer guards, then the hard part begins.”

“Dealing with the Warpers,” I said.

He nodded.

“Can’t you move the Void again?” Leif asked.

The Void was a hole in the power blanket where no magic existed. The last time

the Sandseeds had uncovered a Vermin hideout, it had been protected by a shield of

magic that created an illusion. The camp appeared to be occupied by only a few

warriors. When the Sandseeds had moved the Void over the Vermin, the illusion was

broken. Unfortunately, the encampment held four times the number of soldiers, and

we had been vastly outnumbered.

“They are aware of that trick and will be alerted to our presence if we try to move

the power blanket,” Moon Man said.

“Then how are you going to beat the Warpers?” I asked, worried. If the Vermin

had access to magic it would be a difficult battle.

“All the Sandseed Story Weavers will link together and form a strong magical net

that will seize them and prevent them from using their magic. We will hold them long

enough for you to find the Soulstealer.”

Breaking his silence, Marrok asked, “What about Cahil?”

“He helped the Soulstealer escape. He should be punished,” Moon Man said.

“The Council wants to talk to him,” I said.

“And then they will decide what to do with him,” Leif added.

Moon Man shrugged. “He is not a Vermin. I will tell the others not to kill him, but

in a large battle it might be hard.”

“He’s probably with the Daviian leaders,” Marrok said.

“Marrok—you and Leif find Cahil and take him north of the fighting and I’ll

rendezvous with you after the battle.”

“Yes, sir,” Marrok said.

Leif nodded, but I could see a question in his eyes.

Problem? I asked in his mind.

What if Cahil convinces Marrok not to take him back to the Council? What if

they join together and I’m outnumbered?

Good point. I’ll ask Moon Man to—

Assign one of my warriors to stay with Leif, Moon Man said.

I jerked in surprise. I hadn’t felt Moon Man draw power to link with us.

What else can you do? I asked.

I am not telling you. It would destroy my mysterious Story Weaver persona.

The next morning we saddled the horses and made our way south toward the

plateau. Even with the weight of two riders, Kiki easily carried us. Stopping only

once for a warm dinner and sleep, we reached the border in two days. At sunset on

the second day, we stopped to rest the horses at the edge of the plains.

The flat expanse of the plateau stretched to the horizon. A few brown clumps of

grass clung to the sunbaked surface. While the plains had a few trees, rolling hills,

rocks and sandstone protrusions, the plateau had bristle bushes, coarse sand and a

few stunted spine trees.

We had left the cold, cloudy weather behind. The afternoon sun had warmed the

land enough for me to take off my cloak, but as the light slipped into the darkness, a

cool breeze stirred to life.

Moon Man left to find his scout. Even at this distance from the Vermin camp, it

was too risky to make a fire. I shivered as I ate my dinner of hard cheese and stale

bread.

Moon Man returned with another Sandseed.

“This is Tauno,” Moon Man said. “He will show us the way through the plateau.”

I peered at the small man armed with a bow and arrows. Only an inch taller than

me, he wore short pants despite the chilly air. His skin had been painted, but in the

dim light I couldn’t discern the colors.

“We will leave when the moon is a quarter up,” Tauno said.

Traveling at night was a good idea, but I wondered what the warriors did during

the day. “How do the Sandseeds stay hidden in the plateau?” I asked.

Tauno gestured to his skin. “We blend in. And hide our thoughts behind the

Story Weavers’ null shield.”

I looked at Moon Man.

“A null shield blocks magic,” Moon Man explained. “If you were to scan the

plateau with your magic, you would not sense any living creature behind the null

shield.”

“Doesn’t using magic to create the shield alert the Vermin?” I asked.

“Not when it is done properly. It was completed before the Story Weavers left

the plains.”

“What about the Story Weavers behind the shield? Can they use magic?” Leif

asked.

“Magic can not penetrate the shield. It does not block our vision or hearing, just

protects us from being discovered by magical means.”

As we prepared to travel, I thought about what Moon Man had said, and realized

that there were many things I still didn’t know about magic. Too many. And the

thought of learning more with Roze quelled my curiosity.

When the moon had traveled through a quarter of the black sky, Tauno said, “It

is time to go.”

The muscles along my spine tightened in apprehension as Moon Man settled

behind me on Kiki’s saddle. What if my lack of magical knowledge caused me to

endanger our mission?

No sense worrying about it now. I pulled in a deep breath, steadied my nerves

and glanced at my companions. Tauno sat with Marrok on Garnet’s back. From the

pained expression on Marrok’s face, I knew he wasn’t happy about sharing his

mount with a Sandseed warrior. And to make it worse, Tauno insisted on being in

front and holding Garnet’s reins.

To stay behind the null shield, our path through the plateau had to be precise.

Tauno led us. The soft crunch of the horses’ hooves on hard sand was the only

sound.

The moon crawled along the sky. At one point I wanted to yell out and urge Kiki

into a gallop just to break the tension that pressed around us.

When the blackness in the sky eased in the east, Tauno stopped and dismounted.

We ate a quick breakfast and fed the horses. As the day brightened, I saw how well

Tauno blended in with the plateau. He had camouflaged himself with the plateau’s

colors of gray and tan.

“We walk from here,” Tauno said. “We will leave the horses. Take only what you

need.”

The clear sky promised a warm day so I removed my cloak and stowed it in my

backpack. Dry air laced with a fine grit blew, scratching at the back of my throat. I

decided I needed my switchblade. Strapping the sheath around my right thigh, I

removed the weapon and triggered the blade. I treated the tip of the blade with some

Curare. The muscle-paralyzing drug would come in handy if Cahil wouldn’t

cooperate. After I retracted the blade, I positioned the weapon in its holder through a

hole in my skirt/pants pocket. I wrapped my long black hair into a bun and used my

lock picks to keep the hair in place. Finally, I grabbed my bow.

Dressed for battle, though, didn’t mean I was prepared for battle. I hoped I

would be able to find Cahil and Ferde and take them without killing anyone. But the

grim knowledge that I would kill to save myself formed a knot in my throat.

Tauno scanned our clothes and weapons. Leif’s machete hung from his waist. He

wore a green tunic and pants. Marrok had strapped his sword onto his belt. The

dark brown scabbard matched his pants. I realized that we had all dressed in the

colors of the earth, and, while we didn’t blend in as well as Tauno, we wouldn’t

stand out either.

We tied our packs and supplies onto the horses’ saddles, then left the horses to

graze on what little grass they could find, and walked south. The plateau appeared

deserted. The need to search the area with magic crept along my skin, and I tried to

ignore the desire. Connecting with the life around me had become almost instinctive

and I felt exposed and out of sorts by not knowing what breathed nearby.

Taking a circuitous path, Tauno eventually stopped. He pointed to a cluster of

spine trees. “Just beyond that copse is the camp,” he whispered.

I searched the plateau. Where was the Sandseed army? The earth undulated as if

the sand had liquefied. The waves on the ground grew. I clamped a hand over my

mouth to stifle a cry of surprise. Row upon row of Sandseed warriors stood.

Camouflaged to match the sand, they had been lying on the ground in front of us

and I hadn’t noticed them.

Moon Man smiled his amusement at my dismay. “You have been relying on your

magical senses and have forgotten about your physical senses.”

Before I could respond, we were joined by four Sandseeds. Though they dressed

the same as the warriors, these Sandseeds held themselves with authority. They

issued orders and power radiated from them. Story Weavers.

A male Story Weaver handed Moon Man a scimitar. His sharp gaze pierced me

as he studied my features. “This is the Soulfinder?” Doubt laced his words, but he

spoke softly. “She is not what I expected.”

“What did you expect?” I asked.