The Shards (41 page)

His fingers just barely grazed the black stone as Margot flew backward and out of his reach. The ebon orb was still securely in her hand, but in that one instant, that one slight encounter, Colton recognized his brother’s touch and he immediately knew everything that had just transpired. From his perch in Talamar, he erupted with rage like he had never done before. Though Premoran was still bound to the wall with no hope now of escape, the wizard smiled to himself fully satisfied, before he too slipped into unconsciousness.

As they both faded into the oblivion of sleep, the demon’s hound opened its one opalescent eye and stared across the room, unblinking, watching…waiting.

Chapter Forty-three

Tamara stepped as lightly as she could upon the surface. She felt as if she was in a shrine, a sacred place, and she did not want to disturb anything. A faint humming sound resonated in her ears, and as soothing as it was to her, it nonetheless brought her to tears. The smell of Lalas was so strong, but it was a little too sweet, and though it was still incredibly wonderful, it evoked a profound sadness in her. She knew instinctively that it was the tree’s last breaths that permeated the air.

Something moved in the far comer, but she was already being drawn so compellingly to the heart that she could not even look in any other direction. Whatever it was seemed so insignificant against the backdrop of Mintar’s demise that she relegated it to the back of her mind for the moment.

She could feel the awesome power. It resounded throughout the chamber as she walked determinedly toward the heart. The sense of loss was also potent, and she sighed deeply in response to it. The soil was warm beneath her feet, and Tamara bent down and grabbed a handful of it and brought it to her cheek. Her tears mixed with the rich soil before she unclenched her fist and let it fall back down slowly to the ground. Something was glowing up ahead within the broken shell of the once mighty tree and Tamara walked directly toward it. She felt as if she was dreaming. Each step seemed to be a step out of time.

The dust rose around her feet as they touched the ground, and it swirled and circled about her in slow motion. The humming grew louder the closer she got to the heart. It was mesmerizing, and it added to the ethereal quality of the surroundings and circumstances. Leaves fluttered and settled upon the surface which was already strewn with countless broken branches and twigs; a poignant reminder of the loss, far different from fall’s natural devastation, and so stultifying in the knowledge of its permanence and irreversibility. She allowed the small light that burned in her palm to fade as she walked carefully forward. The source of illumination in front of her flared brightly as she neared it, and then it began to pulsate, throwing eerie bursts of light everywhere throughout the darkened chamber.

Tamara’s senses seemed to be sharper than ever. Every slight sound, every tiniest movement and every subtle smell was intensified and vivid. She breathed deeply and opened her eyes wide. She was unsure if the humming was growing louder or whether it was simply moving from its source to a place within her head, but it was a hundred times more acute than even moments before. As if she was watching herself from somewhere outside her own body, she lifted her arm and reached for the radiating object sheltered within its cushion of deep brown wood. It was warm when her fingers grasped it, and the sensation that accompanied her first touch was so amazingly unexpected she almost withdrew her hand.

Her mind was flooded with images and thoughts, feelings and emotions, faces, cities, animals and beings of all kinds and shapes and colors, and trees; enormous trees, graceful and wondrous. But, amidst the confusion of this sensory assault, she remained grounded still and something kept her focused. Though no voice spoke to her and no words directed her actions, she was guided nonetheless.

Assured, she grasped the shard and lifted it out of Mintar’s shell. It came free easily, and as it did so, its light went out completely and totally, and just as instantly, her legs felt as if they could no longer hold her up. She tottered slightly and fell to her knees. Using her free hand, she tried to push herself upright, but the soil was soft and gave way under the pressure, and she fell again. Tamara hit the ground with a thud and she lay for a moment upon the warm soil. She sought desperately to right herself and regain her equilibrium. Slowly, she stood up and concentrated so that she would not stumble to the earth once more and chance dropping the precious shard. At the same moment that physical weakness threatened to waylay her body, a surging wave of sadness wafted over her and threatened simultaneously to capsize her soul.

I will not falter! I will not fail!
she vowed to herself, and she forced her legs to strengthen and her spirit to rise.

She rekindled a light in her free hand and held it aloft. Though it seemed so pale and feeble in this chamber of death, she held it up defiantly and it became for her a beacon of hope.

Leave, Tamara! Leave quickly! Something evil is loose in this place
, she heard Etuah’s voice resound inside her head.
And the lost ones come!

The shock of hearing the Drue’s concerned voice compelled her forward. As she dragged herself away from the devastated and ruined remains of the Lalas, she felt the desperate and frantic onrush of the millions of lost souls, imprisoned forever by their own tragic mistakes and miscalculations and now searching in vain for release, and clamoring abjectly to fill the vacuum of this suddenly dead place.

A spectral object brushed by her as she left the main chamber and though she could not see it clearly, she knew that it was Etuah. Tamara turned her head around to look upon the emptiness once more and she saw what looked almost like a shimmering, liquid blanket spread itself over Mintar’s heart. It covered the entire area where the shard had been and she watched as it appeared to meld with the wood and become one with it. In moments, a massive but totally silent explosion sent millions and millions of tiny, brilliantly blazing particles shooting out in all directions. They adhered to all the surfaces, top and bottom, and left not a single spot untouched by the light. Then they glowed with a blinding intensity before they burned out all at once and sealed and protected the space for all eternity. The lost ones voices were stilled.

Tamara knew that Etuah had completed what she had come here to do, and she said a silent, emotional prayer on the noble woman’s behalf before heading for the entrance to the corridor in front of her. For some strange reason, she was not as saddened by Etuah’s demise as she had anticipated. It now all seemed so right, and as she witnessed her essence spread throughout the space that Mintar had previously occupied, she felt that the Drue had fulfilled herself and completed her mission in life. She tucked the shard into a pocket in her cape, and with the small light in her palm to illuminate the way, she began to walk to the opening that she hoped would lead her out of the hollows and back to the surface.

Tamara lurched to her left, and out of the comer of her eye she was certain she saw a shadow dart across the floor. She needed to take only another few steps in order to reach the opening ahead, and she began to move more swiftly now. She reached her hand inside her cloak and felt for the shard. It was still warm to the touch, and then she remembered the map. Frantically, she searched the folds of her cloak for the container within which the map was hidden. It was nowhere to be found! She must have dropped it when she fell earlier.

Something rushed out from behind the broken heart as she turned to retrace her steps and locate the map. Reflected in the tiny light suspended on her palm she distinctly saw a glistening pair of eyes not more than ten feet away, and they were glinting malevolently in her direction.

Chapter Forty-four

“Did you hear that?” Caroline asked, halting in mid step.

“What, daughter. I heard nothing.”

“Neither did I,” Dalloway said.

“Something moved up ahead,” she said, and she cautiously began to walk again.

“It must have been the earth shifting. It is very moist down here now, and the roots are breaking through the surface. Something lives here,” Conrad said.

“Are we still following the light?” Caroline asked.

“Yes,” Dalloway replied, while looking intently at the medallion.

“Then we must be approaching the heart. Stay close together. We do not know what we will find there,” she warned them.

A rush of warm, humid air blew into their faces and the smell of Lalas was unmistakable. But, it was far sweeter than it should have been and it caused them each concern rather than comfort, it was so intense.

“It has never smelled so strong before,” Dalloway said. “It is almost as if it has breathed its final breath and soon there will be no more.”

The elf’s words suddenly seemed dangerously foretelling, for within the next moment, the odor ceased and it was replaced by a cold, fetid stench.

“The tree is dead!” Conrad confirmed.

“Yes. I feel it too,” Caroline agreed. “Shh!” she said again. “Did you not hear that?” she whispered.

She motioned with her hand for them to follow her, and she cautiously rounded the bend before them. In the far distance she could see the silhouette of a archway and it was illuminated by a dim light from somewhere behind it.

“We are not alone here,” she said softly. “And it is no longer safe!”

“No longer? When was it ever safe in this wretched place?” Conrad muttered.

“When the tree was alive,” Caroline asserted. “It was safer then, father,” she said sadly. “We cannot stay in this place much longer. Hurry. I do not know why we are here, but we must find out soon or we may never be able to leave. We have to reach the chamber ahead. The answers we seek lay there,” she said with an urgency in her voice.

“The medallion is brighter than it has ever been. Should I conceal it? It may give us away,” Dalloway asked.

“Yes. Put it in your cloak again. We know where we have to go,” Conrad said.

A second later, they were enveloped in darkness. As their eyes adjusted to the new circumstances, the aperture ahead began to become clear once more, lit from behind as it was. They approached it with caution, not making a sound. When they were only a few feet from the opening, Caroline motioned to them to duck down and let her go through first. Both Conrad and Dalloway shook their heads vehemently in disagreement, but she was insistent. She was already first in line, so short of physically restraining her and chancing making noise in the process, they reluctantly gave in to her intention.

She stepped cautiously toward the archway and flattened herself against the wall before she reached it. Caroline carefully inched her way close enough to the opening to peek through it. In the middle of the space she could see what looked like a massive circle of broken wood, blackened and dead, and all over the surface lay pieces, large and small, of the dead Lalas. Everything appeared to be coated with particles or powder that sparkled and glinted in the dim light. As her eyes took in the devastation, she realized where she was.

By the First
, she thought.
This was its heart!

She was thoroughly astounded despite the fact that they had been searching for this since they first entered the hollows. It just did not seem actual before, and now, with the shell of the once mighty Lalas shattered and lifeless before her, the reality of it hit her hard. So much was still resounding in the air, and her senses were involuntarily honing in upon the disparate and disjointed memories like a bee to honey. Pieces of the past floated before her mind’s eye like a painting cut into hundreds of sections and caught by the wind. They were disjointed and vague. The tree had died, though it had not yet departed fully. Now, it was fading, and fading fast. She was lucky for that. With each moment, the feelings grew less intense and the memories sparked and burned out, one by one. Caroline shook her head and centered herself. The images were far, far away now, floating further into the distance on the fleeting wings of the what once was.

A sudden movement at the far end of the room caught her attention and focused her mind once more fully upon the present. A woman in a long grey cape stood before another archway, and it appeared as if the light that illuminated the room was coming from something in her hand. She was rather tall and she stood erect, but Caroline could not see her face. The distance was too great, and she was facing the opposite direction. Caroline’s thoughts linked with hers for a moment, and she knew instantly that she was strong and wise, and infinitely good. Suddenly, the dark haired woman turned and faced the center of the room, maybe in response to Caroline’s probing.

Before Caroline had a chance to reveal herself, a figure darted out from behind the rubble and rushed toward the unsuspecting woman by the doorway. Caroline felt a pain shoot through her as if she had been pierced by a knife, though nothing had actually physically touched her. Her senses hurt from the assault, and without thinking, she ran to the woman’s defense. She knew without a doubt that whatever was running toward her was evil through and through. She rushed over to the two of them, but not before the attacker had grabbed the other woman’s leg and brought her to the ground.

Caroline reached its side and entered its mind, and she was repulsed instantly by the vileness she encountered. She felt as if she had climbed down into the pits of Sedahar itself! This beast was corrupt beyond measure, and she cringed as its essence touched her soul. She was falling deeper and deeper into its sick emotions—unadulterated hate, vile desires and depraved past—when she realized that it was an elf she was communing with, an elf from Seramour! She saw the matricide and she saw the treason and she sobbed inwardly at the debauchery that marked its existence. Once, it called itself Ruffin!

Tamara hit the floor hard when she fell and she was dizzy and confused. Her head hurt and she lay prostrate among a pile of dry leaves. Something warm trickled down her face and she brought her hand to her forehead. She was bleeding. It was dark and she could not see anything, but she heard the sounds of breathing nearby. She sat up quickly and almost fainted as the blood rushed to her head. She pushed herself away from the noise, slid across the littered floor, and then rekindled the flame in her palm. To her shock, an elf clothed in the ragged remains of a once grand outfit, lay sprawled nearly at her feet, and a young woman lay unmoving beside him. They both seemed to be unconscious, though they were breathing steadily. The girl’s face was tortured and pained, and the elf’s closed eyes jumped and twitched behind his heavy eyelids.

Two more figures suddenly rushed out of the darkness on the other side of the room, one with a long bow strung and ready and the other with a dagger brandished before him. They stood menacingly beside the stricken elf and Tamara. The older of the two kneeled at the girl’s side and tenderly ran his hand over her forehead. Tamara willed the light to burn brighter.

“She saved me from him,” Tamara explained. “He came from nowhere.”

“Who are you?” the standing one asked.

“I am Tamara, a sister of Parth,” she offered openly. “Who are you?” she asked.

“I am Dalloway, son of Treestar and Elsinestra, Prince of Eleutheria,” he replied. “And these are my friends, Caroline and Conrad,” Dalloway said, and he smiled strangely, though the circumstances did not seem to be such that they would generate mirth. “We were searching for you!” he said.

“Me?” Tamara asked astounded.

“Yes. You must be the sister with the map!” Dalloway blurted out.

Conrad had not picked his head up from his daughter’s chest. He was listening to her heartbeat and he was growing paler and paler by the minute.

“So many seem to know of things that I thought were secret,” Tamara said and she shook her head back and forth as if mystified. “Is the girl alright?” she then asked.

“She is an empath. She has melded with your attacker. She is strong and knows what she is doing but she has little experience with humans and elves,” he explained. “Can you help her?” Conrad asked.

“I can try,” Tamara replied and she bent down beside them. “Though I am no healer,” she said. She placed her palm upon Caroline’s forehead and withdrew it almost immediately as if it had hurt her to touch the girl. Then she reached out again and this time kept her fingers firmly on the girl’s skin. “She is burning up.” She closed her eyes and summoned what power she could. Then she directed it at the girl. In a few moments, Caroline’s features eased and the painful expression upon her sweet face vanished. She appeared relaxed and at peace.

“I do not know exactly what I did for her, but she is at rest now. I cannot wake her though. She seems very far away,” Tamara said, concerned.

“Do you know who your attacker is?” Conrad asked.

“No. He came from nowhere. I did not think anyone else could survive down here, so I was careless,” she said, obviously annoyed with herself, while she dabbed her own forehead with the corner of her cape. “I am bleeding,” Tamara observed.

“Let me clean that,” Dalloway offered. He pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and carefully wiped the blood from her wound. Then he dampened it and wiped it again. “It is not serious. Just a surface abrasion. Does it hurt much?”

“No. Not really. I am more concerned about your companion than about myself. We will have to carry her if we cannot revive her soon. It is not safe to stay in this place,” Tamara warned.

“And the elf? What about him?” Dalloway asked. “Why did he attack you?”

“I have no idea. I suppose he wanted what I carry,” she said.

“Perhaps Caroline can tell us when she awakens,” Conrad said optimistically. “By the First, I hope that is soon!”

As if she heard him, she began to stir. The elf’s breath resumed a more relaxed pattern at the same time, though he remained motionless.

“We had best restrain him. We already know he is not a friend,” Dalloway said, as he and Conrad began to bind his ankles.

Before they could finish tying him securely, Caroline sat up with a start and shrieked. She continued screaming violently and thrashing about. Conrad and Dalloway rushed to her side. She sounded as if something was hurting her terribly. Tamara held her hand while she tried to soothe her anguish.

“Caroline? What is it? Talk to me? What can I do?” Conrad pleaded.

She was sobbing uncontrollably and gasping for breath. She was so disturbed that she could barely speak, though she was muttering something about the Dark Lord and murder. Caroline was wringing her hands wildly as if she wanted to wash them of some unspeakable filth that had dirtied them. Tamara placed her palms on either side of the distraught girl’s head and held it steady while Conrad continued to ask her questions. Dalloway too was leaning over her and searching for a way to ease her pain and fear. While they focused their attention on the maiden, Ruffin slowly opened his eyes. He reached for the ties that bound his feet and began to cut them as quietly as he could with a black dagger that was concealed in his filthy tunic. Once his feet were free, he adjusted the knife so that the hilt was in his fist and he was about to strike out at Dalloway whose back was nearest to him.

Tamara heard him move and she swung around, though she had no weapon ready with which to attack. She raised her hands defensively and leapt to protect Dalloway. He swung his head around an instant later and found himself staring directly into the deranged elf’s eyes. Dalloway too pulled his knife from its sheath, ready to strike.

“Mercy, brother, mercy,” Ruffin pleaded, while concealing his weapon in the folds of his shirt as he inched closer to Dalloway. “I hail from Seramour too,” he said in an overtly affable way.

Caroline broke free of her father’s arms, pulled her knife from its case and lunged at the renegade elf with an almost superhuman strength. Consumed with a fury the likes of which her father had never seen in her before, she pierced Ruffin’s heart with one fast blow followed by another and another until her father forcefully grabbed her from behind and hugged her tightly to him. She continued to strike out at the air in front of her, thrusting the knife in the direction of the fallen elf relentlessly, and sobbing all the while.

“Stop, Caroline. Stop. He is dead,” Conrad soothed her. The elf lay face down in a pool of dark red blood. “He is dead, my daughter. He cannot harm us anymore.” Finally, Caroline relaxed in her father’s arms, but she looked at him as if she barely recognized him. “It will be okay,” he said, while he brushed her hair back off of her forehead tenderly. “I promise. Everything will be okay.”

Dalloway went over to the elf, and with his foot he turned him over so that he was facing upward. His black eyes were wide open but lifeless, and as they all watched him closely now, dark shadows began to swirl around him. They buffeted him back and forth and practically lifted him off of the ground. Within a few moments, his body began to disintegrate as if it had been dead for tiels. Howls and screams could be heard in the distance, and they were quickly becoming louder with each passing moment. Soon, a pile of gray dust that began to slowly billow out from the empty and ragged clothing was all that remained.

“We must go! The lost ones approach! Though they cannot enter here, they have come to claim this elf’s soul for their own. Now that his body is gone, his spirit must join them. He has forsaken his other options,” Tamara insisted. “Hurry! Follow me,” she instructed, and she started to head for the archway that she was about to walk through when Caroline first appeared. Conrad and Dalloway assisted Caroline, and they moved as quickly as they could to catch up to Tamara. “Wait!” the sister implored. “I have forgotten something.” She rushed back into the room and headed for Mintar’s shattered trunk in the center of the floor. When she reached it she stopped and scanned the surface quickly. Then, she reached to the right, bent over and picked something up. Hastily, Tamara stuffed it inside her cape before returning to them. “Now we can go,” she announced when she caught up to the others once more. “I could not leave without the map.”