Bridgebreaker (The Echo Worlds Book 2) (9 page)

Cendan pondered the answers he had gotten from Rivenwood.

“Are there any others outside these two groups?  Outside the Bridgefinders and the Shrouded?”

Those storm clouds in his mind’s eye broke out in lightning at the question.

“Yes.  But the less we deal with them, the better.  There is no moral compass there; just power.  But I still need to show you the final split.  Drawn from my own memories.  This is almost six hundred years after the initial split.  Over the years, the two groups worked together at times, and we were on a somewhat friendly basis.  There was even the occasional intermarriage between the two groups.”  Rivenwood’s voice became sad, regretful.

“The two groups, though, became more and more separate over time.  We stuck to the old ways, tried and true, simple, and natural.  The Bridgefinders became more and more involved with machinery and the craft.  They made wondrous things too.  The headquarters of the Bridgefinders could never have been made any other way.  The machine, EVA, was the near culmination of the craftsmanship and skill they commanded.  But something ugly started to take hold in the group.  You know what it was.”  Rivenwood’s voice prodded an answer from Cendan.

“The hatred of Magic.  The denial of its function and even existence.”  Cendan answered, feeling where this was going.

“Yes.  That group pushed farther, not content with the merging of technology and magic, they wanted to drop the magic part altogether.  At the time of the final split, they were a small but vocal group in the Bridgefinders, but eventually, sadly... they prevailed.  Which has led directly to where the Bridgefinders are today.”

Cendan nodded.

“So what caused the final split?  You said it comes from your memories?”  Cendan wanted to keep this on topic, and move on.

“Oakheart did, or at least his joining the Bridgefinders did.  Oakheart’s true name was Mindeth Oakheart.  He was born one of us, one of the Shrouded.  He was also a Shaper of Things, what you are, what the Bridgefinders call a Maker.  Early on, we knew that while he was born to us, his heart lay with them.  His skills were amazing, even as a child.  He was deft with the power, but craved more than we did here.”

Cendan inwardly celebrated the fact that he finally knew Oakheart’s real name.  At least he could scratch that off his list of things he didn’t know about all this.

“So, his leaving was the final straw?”  Cendan asked.

“Let me show you, then ask questions.”  Rivenwood’s response came as a vision rushed toward Cendan.

________

Oakheart stood with his hands holding a large hammer, fidgeting with it as he waited.

“Aethlic my friend, what is the problem?” he asked the figure who was sitting down, leaning against a rock.  “You know I don’t belong here; they know I don’t belong here; everyone knows it.  Let me leave and be done with it.”

Aethlic Rivenwood sighed.  Mindeth Oakheart was his best friend and had been for years.  Talented beyond measure, he was however nearly blind to the political and power ramifications of his leaving.

“Oakheart, you know the relations between us and the Bridgefinders have been bad for nearly a hundred years, now.  Too many disagreements over how and what to do now that the Slyph has turned aggressive.  An aggressive turn that we many find the Bridgefinders at fault for.”  Aethlic Rivenwood shook his head.  Why some had to choose to get into direct confrontation with a super powerful magical entity he didn’t understand.

“Good! We should have done that as well.  She’s untrustworthy, Rivenwood.  Mark my words, she wants nothing good for us or our world.”

“I didn’t say she did, but before the Bridgefinders decided to force things by banishing creatures and closing Bridges, she wasn’t outright attacking us.  We were managing her, keeping her off guard and off base.  Soft power, Oakheart.  Now, she creates creatures that are nightmares, creatures that exist to hurt and hunt.  To destroy and harm.”  Rivenwood pointed out.

Oakheart dismissed that with a wave of us hand.

“She would have done that, regardless.  At best, the Bridgefinders accelerated the conflict a bit, but better to be prepared and start the conflict on your terms than the enemy’s.”

Rivenwood sighed.  This was an argument that not only had he and Oakheart had many times over the last few years, it was one that had finally driven a wedge between the Shrouded and the Bridgefinders.  That wedge was the reason that there were serious misgivings about letting Oakheart leave to join the Bridgefinders.  Do you let someone who was as powerful as Oakheart join a side that only seems to seek further confrontation with a thing like the Slyph?  Where is the line?

“You are my friend, Oakheart.  I mean that.  But the Bridgefinders have planted these ideas in your head.  This is not the way to survive.”  Rivenwood tried to be calm about it all, but knew that Oakheart didn’t want to listen.

“Aethlic Rivenwood, you are my friend.  But this dancing around the Slyph will only lead to further loss.  Action must be met with action.”

A soft chime roused them both.  The Council of Elders had finished their meeting.  One elder, named Tern came forth to the clearing where they were.  Surprisingly, with him came a much younger woman, clad in leather, looking decidedly pleased with herself.  Tern frowned.

“Mindeth Oakheart.  You have asked to leave us, the Shrouded and Join the Bridgefinders.  To choose the ways of those who were once our family.”  Tern continued.

Rivenwood stiffened at this choice of words.  Once our family?

“We will grant you this.” Oakheart’s face broke out in a grin, as did the woman who stood with Tern, “but, know this, Oakheart.  If you leave with Finioa here and join the Bridgefinders, you may never return to us.  We, the leadership of the Shrouded, have placed the edit of separation.  The Shrouded and the Bridgefinders are no longer family.  We are no longer connected.  The split started by Bandic all those years ago is now complete.”

The woman Tern had identified as Finioa rolled her eyes at this announcement.

“That was your choice, Tern.  You all are just mad that one of your most powerful members is leaving you.”

Tern’s face scowled at the woman.  “We have discussed that until we have nothing else left to say, Finioa.”

Rivenwood spoke up.  “So you’re saying that from this moment on, what…  No communication between us and the Bridgefinders?”

“Yes.  The names of their members will be stricken from the rolls, and we shall have nothing to do with them henceforth.  What was one is now two.  This is the final decision of the Elders.”  Tern tapped his staff against the ground as a wave of magic flew out. As it passed over Rivenwood, he felt a bell ring throughout his body.  “Finioa take your new member and leave.  You are not welcome here anymore.”

Cendan felt fuzzy headed.  All this mind to mind stuff seemed to make him a bit confused.

“So, Oakheart left, joined the Bridgefinders, made EVA and who knows what else, then got captured by the Slyph, turned into a tree thing like you all, and turned into basically a magic battery for the Slyph to use?”  He hoped that was a semi accurate summary of everything he knew.  Or at least he had been told.  Cendan wasn’t totally sold that these people, these Shrouded, were telling him everything any more than he had been sure the Bridgefinders had been.  People always had their own versions of truth.  Without a response, Cendan continued.

“So, if there wasn’t supposed to be any contact anymore between the Shrouded and the Bridgefinders, how did Heather get there?  Why am I here?”  Cendan pushed on.  “By everything you’ve shown me, there aren’t a lot of reasons for this conversation to even be happening.  Right?  I mean, that vision said it; what was one is now two.  Period.”

“Yes.  And it would have stayed that way but for one thing; Grellnot.  Grellnot happened.  Even Grellnot existing was a high concern for us, a turning point.  Unlike every other creature the Slyph had created, Grellnot existed only as a weapon, only as a force of destruction,” Rivenwood answered him, the concern in his voice looming over every word.

“Grellnot is hunger, and that’s all he is.  But because he was born of the magic of two worlds, our world and the Slyph’s Echo World, he always had the … potential to be an even larger threat.  Every time he took the power of a Bridgefinder, he grew.  Now, he can take in the power of both our world and the Slyph’s.” “With that power, he crossed the line from a large concern to a crisis.  That was the reason the decision was made for one of us, one of the Shrouded, to make contact again with the Bridgefinders after all this time.”

“Heather was chosen simply because she was powerful enough to take care of herself; street-smart, and tough enough to deal with anything we thought she might find on her mission.  You were the target for several reasons; your dealings with the Elves made you known to us.  We knew that you were a recent arrival to the Bridgefinders, and would be the most likely to listen to our concerns.  The others still living would not be.”  Rivenwood finished his answer with what to Cendan experienced as a sigh.

“So, what now?  Why bring me here?  Why tell me all of this?  What was the point?” Cendan queried Rivenwood.  “Bringing me here wasn’t necessary to warn us about Grellnot.”

Rivenwood was silent for a long time before finally answering.

“No. It wasn’t.  Truthfully, this was not part of the plan.  Heather’s original plan was just for her to warn you all and then leave.  But the chance to see the inside of the legendary Bridgefinders building, to see the fabled map in person, changed things for her.”

“Then you got kicked out by Marcus, and we didn’t know what to do.  Did we leave you as a target for Grellnot?  I do not know if his former inability to do anything to you still holds true; he has grown in power and ability a great deal since the last time he tried.  Heather, in communication with the Elders of the Shrouded, decided to bring you here, for both your safety and at least, somewhat, our curiosity.”

Rivenwood continued, “But you are here now, and we are unsure what else we should do with you.”

Cendan pounced on the thought that had flickered around the edges of his mind since learning about this place and these people.

“Teach me.  Just teach me.  The Bridgefinders know nothing of magic anymore, and while I may find a book or journal about it, being taught to harness whatever it is I can do is a tool that I need, I must, have.”

“We have considered this.  We are, however, somewhat split on the idea.  Teaching a Bridgefinder the ways of the Shrouded is something we weren’t prepared to process; at least not yet.  While I, being the most senior of the Elders am for the most part for this idea, some of the other Elders, who were born after the split between the two groups, are less than enthused about it. There is a faction who want to let Grellnot finish you all off, then find a way to defeat him.  Ridding ourselves of both problems at once.”  Rivenwood responded.

“Problem?  The Bridgefinders are a problem?  Oh, you mean the Bridges being turned and forced to come near EVA?  The closing of the Bridges and banishing of the creatures that come through?  Do you really hate us that much to let us die?”  Cendan was somewhat surprised by this.  His mental image of the Shrouded was one of nature-magic-hippy-types being peaceful and hiding away from the real world.  The idea that they would let the Bridgefinders be destroyed and killed by Grellnot, simply to get their way, pointed to a far darker turn of mind.

“Hate is a strong term for it, Cendan Key.  Call it more like ‘tough love’.  There are those among us who feel that the Bridgefinders have brought this on themselves.  That we shouldn’t step in and save a group of people who proclaimed themselves the true protectors of the world and walked away from the Shrouded.  I do not share this viewpoint, but it does exist.  But that’s immaterial for now.  We have agreed as a whole to train you.  To help you expand your powers and abilities in the short time we have left to do so.”  Rivenwood’s voice softened.  “We do not know how long it will take, but everything we can detect and find out says that Grellnot is plotting to strike at the Slyph.  When he does so, the odds are high that he will win.  We must be ready for that chance.”

Cendan knew Rivenwood was right.  The idea of Grellnot flush with all the power of the Slyph on top of all the power he already had was one that no one liked the idea of.  It was obvious the Shrouded had mixed feelings about him being here, just as many in fact as what he had about being here.  But they knew magic.  They knew it far better than anything he could get out of books in the Maker library.  It was different magic than Bridgefinder magic though he wasn’t sure to what degree.

“Ok, let’s do it then.”  Cendan answered quickly.  “If only because the idea of a thing like Grellnot not being stopped is one that we can all agree is bad.  Bad as they say with a capital ‘B’.”

Cendan broke contact with the tree Rivenwood, blinking in the light.  Momentarily fuzzy headed, he struggled a bit to clear his mind.  He wasn’t even sure how long it had been since he started that conversation with Rivenwood.  It was rather like waking up from a nap in the afternoon and not knowing how long you’d been asleep.

Heather was still there, though she was sitting now, her back to another nearby tree.  Her eyes locked onto him with intensity.

“So, I have to train you now?  Joy.”  She took her fetish off her wrist and spun the loop in a circle off her finger.  “I’m to show you the basics, like tapping into the surrounding power.  Using that power, your will, and your fetish to make things happen.”

“You?  They can’t give me someone else?” Cendan blurted out.  He still wasn’t sure how he felt about Heather.  If last night hadn’t happened, he would have jumped at the chance to spend more time with her.  But now?  He didn’t trust her.  Maybe.  He hated things like this.  Emotions always got in the way of good solid logic and facts.  Factually, he knew she was probably the best choice.  She knew him, and if what Rivenwood had said was correct, the Shrouded probably didn’t want a lot of interactions with him.  It made sense for the one person who already had contact to continue it.  He persisted nonetheless.

“I mean, what about a Creator?  One of your Maker types,” Cendan continued, seeing the look of anger and – what was that?  Sadness maybe? – that crossed Heather’s face at his first question.  Her face set into a blank look, and Heather stood.

“Yes, after I show you the basics, you will get some time with a Creator.”  Without another word, Heather motioned him to follow her away from Rivenwood.

“Heather, I am sorry, but after last night I just…”  Cendan trailed off, once again unsure how to deal with someone else’s emotions.

“It’s fine, Cendan.  I shouldn’t have done it in retrospect.  I just didn’t see what the big deal was for you.  But I guess you see those sort of things very differently than I.”  Heather answered back, but didn’t look at him.  He knew that her feelings were hurt though he wasn’t understanding why.  She had been the one in the wrong, so why was she upset that he didn’t want much to do with her.  Emotions; so damn inconvenient when a decision needed to be made.