Island Shifters: Book 02 - An Oath of the Mage (34 page)

He stayed perfectly still, knowing from experience that it would not take much for the apes to attack.

One bellowed out a howl and scrambled toward him on all fours in an aggressive manner, but Beck held his ground and the Moshie pulled up short in confusion and scampered back.

The Moshies moved like animals, but their faces were so
human.
That is, if you did not consider the three-inch canines jutting forward over their lips. They were very disturbing to look at.

Beck held his hands out. “Look, I just need to get by, fellows. Nobody needs to get hurt here.”

The Moshies stirred in agitation, but made no effort to step aside.

Evidently, talking to animals is not going to help me.

In frustration, he dropped his hands and looked to the Highworld. “I just need to find the Malakai! Is that too much to ask? For Kenley?”

“What did say?”

Beck started and took a step back. “Who said that?” he asked into the night.

The Moshie who had rushed him stood upright and walked to him, the cloak of an animal shedding with a human gait. “I did.”

“You can talk?”

The Moshie’s yellow eyes glared at him. “Foolish question.”

“But…I thought you were animals,” he managed to stutter out insensitively.

“Thought what wanted man to think.”

“Well…since you can speak my language, maybe you can help. I am looking for the Malakai. Do you know where I might find them?”

“We are Malakai. To know that name, must be Mage apprentice.”

“Yes. And, I am in quite a bit of a hurry.”

“I am called Odawa. Follow.”

The Moshie, or Malakai rather, turned and walked back to the others. After a brief conversation that included more hand gestures than words, all four stood upright and started back on the path behind them.

Odawa turned to Beck to make sure he was following. “Torg not far. There will find what seek.” He paused, then asked, “Why come by waterfall, foolish one?”

“I…that was the only way I knew to get here. I was headed for Callyn-Rhe and the…”

The Malakai turned around and charged at him with a growl. Baring his teeth, Odawa grabbed him under the neck. “Do not speak of enemy cats in presence of Malakai!”

He was so strong!

Beck nodded and held his hands up in submission.

“Foolish.” The Moshie spit at his feet and turned to follow his companions once again.

Beck had no choice but to follow and after a short walk, the path opened up into the village of Torg. Even after meeting Odawa and the others, Beck could hardly believe what he was seeing. It was his first glimpse of the Malakai, a functioning society of animals that moved and spoke with human-like intelligence.

Despite the fact that it was the middle of the night, the village was awake and active. Small children ran laughing and playing among two dozen triangular teepee tents and huts built with bamboo and palm tree fronds. Female Malakai were busy cleaning fish from the river and stirring the contents of huge pots cooking over open fires. Most of the males were sitting or lying at ease while the women worked. A cloud of smoke hovered above one small group as they puffed on long pipes.

All turned and stopped what they were doing when they saw Beck, but did not seem overly concerned.

Odawa addressed the Malakai in a language he did not understand, but whatever he said seemed to reassure them. Some commented back to Odawa and he answered, and Beck noticed him pointing several times to three small teepees sitting apart from the rest of the village under a sturdy wooden shelter.

The conversation over, the village went back to their tasks, and Odawa motioned once again for Beck to follow him. Before he could move, two children ran to him, giggling and grabbed his arms. Examining both sides of his hands very carefully, they seemed very surprised to find them without hair.

“
Nin!
” Odawa shooed them away and they ran off.

As Beck made his way warily through the village, he noticed an old woman sitting cross-legged in front of one of the tents. She was human.

At first glance, she appeared to be sleeping with her eyes closed and her head hanging on her chest, but as Beck passed, she looked up and offered him an amused toothless grin. Goose pimples broke out on his arms as he looked into the woman’s eyes.

They were completely white.

Beck had the unnatural impression that she could read his mind and sense his every fear and desire. Just as he had the thought, she let out a shrill cackle. “Oh, yes, boy. Oh, yes.”

“Come!” Odawa ordered sternly.

With difficulty, Beck tore his gaze from the old woman and followed the Malakai to one of the teepees. He gestured for Beck to sit on a hewed tree stump just outside of the tent opening. “This home of Odawa,” he informed Beck. “Must wait until mixture ready, then go training.”

“Mixture? What is that?”

“Mage potion must drink before training. Those are rules. Live with it.” Odawa sat as well and picked up a long pipe, lighting the bowl with practiced ease. After blowing the inhaled smoke out through his nose, he handed the pipe to Beck. “Smoke.”

Beck shook his head politely. “No, thank you.”

“Not question. Smoke.” He continued to hold the pipe out toward Beck until he accepted it. Beck had seen his father smoke a pipe when he was younger, but had never done so himself. Gingerly, he put his mouth on the wooden stem and inhaled. Immediately, his lungs exploded in pain and he coughed violently, tears streaming down his eyes.

The other Malakai males in the village pointed and laughed while Beck struggled to catch his breath. Even the children were laughing at him.

Odawa shook his head. “Foolish.”

When Beck was finally breathing normally, he turned an angry eye at Odawa. “When will this mixture be ready?” He was anxious to leave this tribe where he felt as foolish as the Malakai claimed him to be.

“On the morrow.”

“Tomorrow! You don’t understand. My daughter is missing! We must begin right away!”

The Malakai opened the flap to the teepee behind him and pointed to a bed of fronds inside. “Rest. Will wake when time.”

Beck sighed in frustration, but the pipe smoke had made his head dizzy. Knowing he could not get Odawa to move any faster, he entered the small tent and laid down, once again using his backpack as a pillow.

This delay had probably cost him his transportation from Digby. He could always hail another watershifter, but it would take time he did not have to arrange.

The need for more information still wrenched at him. He poked his head back out of the tent. “Where will the training be held?”

The Malakai pointed to the three teepees set away from the village.

Beck looked over. “In there?” he asked doubtfully. “I don’t even think I will fit inside.”

“Will fit.”

“Who conducts the training? The Malakai?”

Odawa wrinkled his nose in disgust. “Mage do Mage training foolish one.”

But, there were no more Mages on the island. Did Odawa have any clue what was to happen? He was starting to wonder. He decided to try one last question. “What will I do inside the tent?”

“Die.”

Kiernan wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand. Where moments ago she was shivering from the biting cold, the air was now thick with humidity. Diamond must have seen the movement because she handed her a handkerchief. Kiernan accepted it with a grateful smile.

The Divination sorceress refused to be left behind when she learned of their plans and that added another to their party, which was perfectly fine with Kiernan. There were no others she would rather have at her side to help save her daughter than the people riding next to her. Surely, this assemblage of power could defeat one witch? She shook her head. No, she did not kid herself. That one witch was centuries old and with the morality of a Netherworld demon. That made her the most dangerous of all foes.

After traveling two days through Aquataine and picking up horses at the sorceresses’ castle in Elloree, they started out immediately south on horseback. With a long ride still ahead of them, they alternated between a walk and a ground-covering gallop to save the horses. Sapphire offered to cast a spell over the beasts to free them from their weariness, but Kiernan declined. The spell may have served to mask the animals’ fatigue, but their physical limitations were still very real. The only thing the spell would do is cause them run to their deaths instead of stumble.

Kiernan glanced up at the sun. They had been walking the horses for an hour or so now, and the grueling journey in a land that offered no break from the burning heat was wearing on her. She drummed her heels into her mare’s ribs and the animal took off at a startled run. She did not warn the others. They would follow.

Kiernan relished in the speed of movement and the wind slicing over her body. With all of her concentration on the ride, it left little room for thoughts of Kenley. Yesterday, she begged Diamond to read her gem for information, but the sorceress informed her that her stone was obscured again, and Sapphire had not had any luck removing the spell this time. Of course, she also reminded Kiernan, as she always did, that a foretelling did not always come true. It was a prediction of a probable event and should not be construed as fact. But, Kiernan knew that was not the entire truth. Diamond was very skilled in her craft of Divination and could easily distinguish between what would happen without fail and those events that were still undecided.

Racing out in front of the others over the endless sea of rock, Kiernan pulled back on the reins when she heard a shout. It took a few moments for the big horse to come to a complete stop, and even now the animal was dancing restlessly beneath her.

“Look!” Sapphire yelled, pointing southward.

Kiernan squinted into the distance but was not sure what she was seeing. A gray, dense mist at least a thousand paces wide was moving their way at a fairly rapid speed. “What is it?”

“Demons breath,” cursed Sapphire. “Rogan! Airron! Tie us together with rope! Quickly!”

“What is it?” Kiernan questioned in alarm.

“Death.”

The word hung in the air like a dark cloud.

“Everybody dismount!” Sapphire ordered. “Once that mist descends, it will try to separate us, and it will succeed unless we are tethered.”

Rogan and Airron immediately jumped down from their horses and removed ropes from their saddlebags. Airron handed one end to her and she wrapped it around her waist twice and handed the other end back to him.

“It?” Kiernan directed at Sapphire. “You refer to this mist like it is a living, thinking entity.”

“It is.”

“Can we ride around it?” asked Airron.

“No, it has been set on its course, and I fear the course is us. Keep hold of your horse’s bridle. The mist ahead is a conjuration of dark magic. It is called the Sea of Void and it is deadly. It has the power to induce a mind-eating insanity.”

“Impossible,” Janin retorted.

Sapphire continued as if Janin had not spoken. “Once the Void envelops us, it will penetrate our minds to discover our deepest fears. Once it has done so, the Void will invoke graphical representations of those fears in an attempt to cull the weakest from the group. Do not be scared and, for Highworld’s sake, do not run! You must remain strong mentally! Everything you see will be an illusion. The Void must remain in motion to exist so it will continue to move past us. If you keep your head down and keep walking, and we are very, very lucky, we can survive this unscathed.”

“Bloody hell,” muttered Rogan. “Here it comes. Do not let go of my hand, Janin!”

“I will not, Kal. I love you.”

“Can we breathe in it?” Kiernan asked abruptly, feeling the need to hold her breath as the mist neared.

“Yes, just keep your head down and walk,” Sapphire repeated.

Kiernan took a deep breath anyway and held it as the gray sea rolled over them. The hair on her arms stood up straight as the invasive, sinister vapor slithered its way around her. The blackness of the Void was all encompassing, and she held tight to her mare’s bridle as it was the only physical connection she had left in the world.