Quest for the Sun Orb (38 page)

***

It was mid afternoon when Zakiel crested the long, steep grade that had taken them the entire day to climb.  He was relieved to see a broad flat area just large enough for a campsite since everyone was exhausted from the climb.  He rode toward the edge of the hilltop and looked down into a long, wide valley.  In the distance were two mountains, one to the east, and one to the west, each about two to three days ride away.  Those were the First and Third Sisters.  To the north, directly in front of them where the second sister should have been, was nothing.  Just the valley stretching into the distance. 

He was surprised by the strength of his disappointment.  He’d known that the mountain they were traveling to no longer existed, but he’d hoped, in some part of his mind, that they would find it anyway.  He’d believed that when they topped the rise they’d struggled along all day, their reward would be the missing mountain,
Yamun
Sennet,
the Hidden Sister. 

“What will we do now, Highness?” Garundel asked from beside him. 

“Make camp,” Zakiel said tiredly.  “In the morning we will go down into the valley where the mountain is supposed to be.”

“Yes, Highness,” Garundel said.  He turned his diplo around to face the waiting caravan and gave the signal to make camp.  Karma, Kapia, and Tiari rode toward Zakiel, but everyone else dismounted and began the task of setting up camp. 

“Perhaps we’ll find something tomorrow that will tell us how to proceed,” Karma suggested as she reined in beside Zakiel. 

Tiari frowned.  “I don’t understand,” she said.

“What do you not understand?” Tomas asked, as he reined his diplo in beside Tiari’s.

“I thought we were searching for three mountains, side by side,” she said. 

“We are,” Karma said. 

“Then why is everyone so upset?” Tiari asked in confusion.

Tomas, Zakiel and Kapia all frowned at her, but Karma smiled.  “You see it, don’t you?” she asked.

“You do not?” Tiari asked in surprise. 

“You see three mountains?” Zakiel demanded.  “Truly?”

“Yes,” Tiari said, raising one arm and pointing.  “One, two, three,” she said, moving her arm as she counted from west, to north, to east. 

“It is the mountain in the middle that we can’t see,” Zakiel said.  “Does it look the same as the other two?”

“No, it doesn’t,” Tiari said.  “The two distant mountains are green and brown, with a bit of white at the tip, more on the eastern mountain than the western.  But the mountain in front of us is completely white from top to bottom.  It’s going to be cold there.”

“Then we shall dress warmly,” Tomas said. 

Zakiel frowned.  “You plan to join us?” he asked.

“Yes, of course,” Tomas said.  “Is there a reason why I should not?”

“I don’t know,” Zakiel said.  “When we went to claim the Moon Orb, we had Worrow there to tell us what needed to be done.  The boat would carry only three specific people, so there was no question of who should go, and who should stay behind.  This time, we have no such assistance.”

“In my place, would you stay behind?” Tomas asked.

“No, I wouldn’t,” Zakiel said.  “So long as there is nothing to prevent Tiari from claiming the Sun Orb if you are present, then of course you shall go.”

Tomas nodded, greatly relieved.  He did not want to argue with Zakiel, or do anything to break the peace between them, but neither would he consent to stay back while Tiari went into danger.  The incident at the river was only three days past, far too fresh in his mind to consider such a thing.

“If I could see how far away that mountain is, I would know whether to leave our campsite here, or move it into the valley,” Zakiel said. 

Tiari’s eyes widened as she realized the full implications of what the Prince had just said.  “If you cannot see it, then I will have to go alone, won’t I?” she asked, trying not to sound as frightened as she felt by that prospect.

“You will not go alone,” Tomas declared firmly. 

“How are you to climb a mountain you cannot see?” Tiari asked.

“How do you move around at night when you can’t see?” Tomas retorted.  “I admit it may not be easy, but you will not go alone.”

Tiari was relieved, but at the same time, afraid for Tomas.  This was her task, and she had to be brave.

“Tomas,” Karma interrupted.  “Let’s try something.”

Tiari and Tomas both turned to look at her.  “Touch Tiari’s hand, then try to see the mountain.”

Both Tiari and Tomas held their hands out to each other, both willing to try anything.  From the expression on Tomas’s face, the experiment failed. 

“Oh,” Tiari said suddenly.  “Here, Tomas, try holding this.”  She slipped the rainbow bracelet off of her wrist and handed it to Tomas.  The moment his fingers touched it, he gasped aloud, then grinned. 

“That did it,” he said.  “I can see it perfectly.  Here, Cousin, you try,” he added, leaning over his diplo to hand the bracelet to Zakiel.

“Can you still see it, Tiari?” Karma asked while Zakiel studied the invisible mountain.

“Yes, I can,” Tiari said.  “I’m surprised actually.  I thought that the reason I could see it was the bracelet, but obviously that’s not the case.”

“Here’s the fun part,” Tomas said.  “Zakiel, hand the ring to Karma.”

Zakiel wasn’t finished studying the mountain, but he did as Tomas requested and handed the ring over to Karma.  He followed her gaze to the mountain that she could now see, and grinned.  “Yes, Tomas,” he said.  “You’re right.  This is the fun part.”

“Fun part?” Tiari asked, watching as Karma handed the ring to Kapia.

“Now that we’ve seen it with the ring, we can see it without the ring,” Tomas explained. 

Tiari smiled with relief.  “That must be the ring’s purpose then.  I confess, I was afraid to go to that mountain alone.”

“Yet, you would have done it, if necessary,” Tomas said, smiling at her now that he knew it was not going to be an issue.

“Yes,” Tiari replied.  “It is my duty to claim the Sun Orb.”

“As it is my self-proclaimed duty to watch over you and keep you safe,” Tomas reminded her. 

“I wonder,” Zakiel said, “shall we let the rest of the Hunters see the mountain as well?”

“Yes,” Tomas said.  “Somehow, I think that if they are not meant to see it, then they won’t be able to.”

“Agreed,” Zakiel said accepting the ring from Kapia and handing it back to Tomas.  “The mountain is far closer than I imagined, only a couple of hours travel from here.  I think we should camp here tonight, as planned, and take advantage of the remaining light to give the Hunters a chance to see the mountain.  In the morning, we will move the camp into the valley.  From there, the four of us will go to the mountain, leaving everyone else in camp until we figure out what’s next.”

“Five,” Kapia corrected her brother.

“You mean to go?” Zakiel asked in surprise.

“Yes,” Kapia replied.

“Sister, you have claimed your orb.  I think it best that you remain in camp, where it is safe.”

“I would probably agree with you,” Kapia said.  Then she shrugged.  “Or not.  Either way, I am meant to go, so that is what I shall do.”

Zakiel shook his head with frustration.  He did not want Kapia putting herself in further danger, but he could not argue with her reason.  If she said that she was meant to do this, he could only believe her.

“Tomas, please speak with Garundel about the ring and decide the best way to get everyone to hold it,” he said. 

Tomas bowed his head.  “Yes, Highness.”

***

Bredon had no idea how long he rode before he realized that the fog seemed to be thinning.  But no, that wasn’t quite right.  Not thinning, but lightening.  He urged his diplo to a faster walk.  Did this mean there would be sunlight in the center of this place?  He fervently hoped so.  Not only was he tired of the cold, damp, darkness, he also felt closed in by the fog, unable to see more than a couple of feet in front of his diplo’s nose.

A few moments later he was certain that the fog was, indeed, lightening.  He nudged Marene awake, receiving the usual grumbling, which he ignored.

“We’re almost there,” he said.  “It’s growing light.”

“Finally,”
Marene said. 
“You certainly took your time about it.”

“Be quiet, Marene, or I shall change my mind about agreeing to your truce,” he said.

“You’ll agree to walk away peacefully?”
she asked after a long silence.

“Yes, if you will, though why I should trust you I have no idea,” he said.

“I could say the same of you,”
Marene said.  “
Why are you agreeing?”

“Because you convinced me that you are not that much different than myself,” Bredon said.  “Besides, after living with you in my head these past weeks, I find the idea of destroying you to be less appealing than I expected it would be.”

“Yes, I know what you mean,”
Marene said.  Bredon hoped that his lies sounded more convincing to her than hers did to him.

“Is this
center
going to be empty, or are we meeting someone there?” Bredon asked.

“If there were anyone to meet, they would not have asked me to retrieve the scepter,”
Marene said. 

Bredon froze for a long moment, stunned to silence.

“What is wrong?”
Marene asked.

“Nothing,” he said, attempting to speak normally though his mouth was suddenly dry with fear.  “Just a little tired is all.  I’m glad that this is almost done.”

A few moments later the diplo stepped out of the fog and into bright sunlight.  The fog bank stayed just beyond an invisible line, the same as it did on the outside, looking for all the world like a gigantic curving wall, perfectly straight and even from the ground up to the sky.

Bredon reined the diplo to a stop and looked out over the circular clearing.  There was no grass here, or trees, or anything green in spite of the warm sunshine.  The ground was bare dirt and rock, completely barren.

“It’s hard to imagine anyone ever lived here,” he said.

“Look for a low mound, just a little bit higher then the ground around it,”
Marene said
.  “It should be quite large.  There may be chunks of building stone scattered around it.”

Bredon walked the diplo forward as his eyes scanned the clearing.  It was a fairly large area, perhaps the size of the palace training grounds times four.  Not nearly as large as he’d expected it to be, but that was fine with him.  It would be that much easier to find what they were after.

“This looks right,” he said, stopping the diplo in the center of the clearing and dismounting.  He walked around but saw nothing of interest.  A few large chunks of stone that may or may not have once been part of a building, a few areas that looked blackened, as though they’d been burned.  For the most part the ground was hard packed dirt with nothing growing in it.  This was a dead place, he realized with a shiver.

“Now what?” he asked.

“Let me take over,”
Marene said.

“No,” Bredon replied, that scrap of knowledge he’d gotten a few moments ago rolling through his mind.  “You tell me what to do, and we will work together.  I am not letting you shut me out of this.”

He felt Marene’s frustration, but he was confident in his new ability to keep her from forcing him to do what she wanted.  He’d worked hard these past weeks, especially the past few days, and this was his pay-off.

“Very well,”
Marene conceded with poor grace.  She was pretending she hadn’t tried to take him over.  He would pretend he hadn’t noticed.

“Go to the exact center of the mound,”
she said. 
“There will be a circular stone there, about as wide as you are tall.  It will probably be covered with dirt.  You’ll have to look for it and clear it off.”

Bredon walked toward the center of the mound and looked down.  He kicked at the dirt beneath his boots and sure enough, there was a large stone just beneath.  A short while later he’d cleared the stone of dirt and rubble.

“What next?” he asked.

“Bredon, there is a spell on this stone that prevents both demons and humans from touching it,”
she said. 
“If you do this, you may be injured.”

“I am human and you are demon,” Bredon pointed out.  “Whatever made you think either of us could touch it?”

“I am not demon, as I have told you before,”
Marene said, but without anger this time. 
“With me inside of you, you’re not completely human.  My worry is that, with you in control, you may still be
too
human.  If so, you’ll get us both killed the moment you touch it.”

“Since I just spent the better part of an hour cleaning the dirt from this thing, and touching it several times in the process, I think we’re fine as we are,” he said.

“Very well, have it your way,”
Marene said. 
“Go to the center of the stone and reach down into it.  There is a small cavern deep in the center where the scepter rests.  Grab hold of it and pull it out.”

Bredon walked to the center of the stone and looked down.  “I don’t see an opening here, Marene.  Are you sure we’re in the right place?”

“I didn’t say there was an opening,”
Marene replied with exaggerated patience.
 “I told you to reach into it.  Close your eyes if that makes it easier.”

Bredon knelt on the stone and studied the area before him carefully.  It looked solid as a...well...as a rock.  He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and lowered his hand as though he were going to reach into a hole in the ground.  He was shocked to feel his hand slide through an area of icy cold, but he squeezed his eyes tightly shut and kept going.  When the icy feeling reached nearly to his shoulder, he felt something different beneath his fingers.  It was cool, hard, and smooth.  He wrapped his hand around it and lifted it up, back through the icy, gritty stone and into the air.

He pulled his hand close to his chest to be absolutely certain it was no longer in the stone, and opened his eyes.  He grimaced at the object in his hand.