the pipe.
She carried the pipe to another oven close to the kilns. Shelves of trays had been
stacked inside and Opal banged the end of the tweezers on her pipe. The cat fell
onto the tray. She closed the door.
“If the glass cools too fast, it’ll crack. This is an annealing oven.” Opal pointed
to the tracks underneath the oven. “To slowly cool the piece, the oven is pulled
away from the kiln over the next twelve hours.”
“Why do you blow into the pipe if the glass doesn’t expand for you?” I asked.
“It’s a step I have to do.” She made a vague motion with her arms as if casting
about for the right words. “When Mara does it, she makes beautiful vases and
bottles. Mine always ends up looking like an animal and if I don’t blow into the pipe
it doesn’t look like anything at all.”
She cleaned up her work area, taking the tools from the water and drying them
before replacing them. The bench needed to be ready for the next project, and
working with glass didn’t give you time to search for tools.
“I love creating things. There’s nothing like it,” she said, more to herself than to
me. “Working the glass. Turning fire into ice.”
I thanked Opal for her demonstration and rejoined Marrok. He leaned against
Garnet.
“I think your definition of ‘won’t be long’ doesn’t match mine,” he said by way
of a greeting. “Did you encounter another change in plans?”
“Yes. You might as well get used to them.”
“Yes, sir!” He grinned.
“Sarcasm? You’ve been hanging around with Leif too long. What happened to
the tough old soldier who mindlessly follows orders?”
His demeanor sobered. “He lost his mind. And when he found it again, his
priorities had all been rearranged.”
“For the better?”
“Only time will tell.”
We mounted and headed to the western edge of the Avibian Plains. Once in the
plains, Kiki and Garnet broke into their gust-of-wind gaits and flowed over many
miles. We camped outside the plains at night. I hoped our passage wouldn’t attract
any unwanted attention. My thoughts lingered on Opal’s glassmaking skills. Better
than giving in to the deep despair that threatened to overwhelm me whenever I
thought of Valek.
Our journey to the rendezvous location lasted three days. During that time,
Marrok had spotted signs of a large army that had crossed from the Avibian Plains
and turned north toward the Citadel. At night, the glow of many fires lit the distant
sky and wood smoke tainted the air.
We had agreed to meet Moon Man and the others in Owl’s Hill, a small town
within the Featherstone lands. According to Leif, the Cloverleaf Inn’s owner could
be trusted not to report us. “He owes me one,” had been Leif’s explanation.
Owl’s Hill was located on a small rise about three miles northeast of the Citadel.
The four towers of the Magician’s Keep were visible from the road into town. A
bright orange radiance shone from within the Keep’s walls. The Fire Warper’s home
fire?
Still disguised as Krystal Clan traders, Marrok and I entered the town. Situated
near the main crossroads, the Cloverleaf Inn’s common room bustled with activity,
but the stable was only half full. The stable lad suggested we arrive early for dinner
as the inn was a popular stop for caravans.
“One less night of road rations,” the boy said as he helped me rub down Kiki.
“And the merchants prefer camping near here instead of overnighting in the Citadel.”
“Why is that?” I asked.
“The rumors have been wild, so I don’t know what to believe. But the merchants
who do come back say everyone is afraid of these new Daviians and they say the
Daviians have convinced the Council to prepare for a war.”
“With Ixia?”
“Don’t know. They’ve drafted every able-bodied person. Benn said the Daviians
are in league with Ixia, and once a person’s drafted they hypnotize him. They plan to
use them in the army to turn Sitia into another Ixian Military District. MD-9!”
The boy regaled me with even wilder speculation. I knew the Commander wasn’t
in league with the Daviians, but the possibility of using the Sitian army against Sitia
sounded like a Vermin tactic.
When we finished with the horses, I entered the inn. Marrok had already paid for
two rooms for the night.
“We’re running out of money,” he said.
“Are the others here?” I asked.
“Ari and Janco are in the dining room. Leif and Moon Man haven’t arrived yet.”
That worried me. It had been thirteen days since we had left to rescue the
hostages. Plenty of time for them to discover anything about the Keep’s emergency
tunnel.
In the back corner of the inn’s common room, Ari and Janco held court.
Drinking from tankards of ale, they were surrounded by a group of merchants.
Serious expressions gripped all their faces and they peered at us with suspicion.
Marrok and I picked a table on the far side of the room. Eventually, the knot of
people disbanded and Ari and Janco joined us. Ari had dyed his hair black and both
of them had darkened their skin.
“Janco, do I see freckles?” I asked, failing to suppress a snicker.
“Don’t laugh. It’s this southern sun. It’s the middle of the cold season and it’s
sunny! Bah.” He looked at me. “Although, I’d rather have freckles than be bald!”
I put my hand to my hair. “It’s growing.”
“Enough,” Ari said, and the mood around our table immediately dampened.
“Were you successful?”
The question stabbed into me as if his words were flaming daggers. I struggled to
collect my thoughts; to shoo my emotions away from the black, burning grief that
refused to die down. Marrok saw my inability to answer and he told them about
Tauno, the rescue and about Valek. To see my pain and shock reflected in my
friends’ eyes became unbearable. I excused myself and went outside.
Taking deep breaths of the cool night air, I wandered through the town. A few
people walked along the dirt streets, carrying lanterns. I felt a tug on my cape as my
bat landed on my arm. He stared at me with a sense of purpose in his eyes then flew
off to the left. He returned, swooping around my head and again flew to the left.
Getting the hint, I followed him until we reached a dilapidated building.
The bat settled on the roof as if waiting. I pulled the warped door open with
trepidation, but the interior held a collection of discarded barrels and broken wagon
wheels. When I turned to leave, I stepped on a wooden ball. A child’s toy. I picked
it up and examined it. My bat wanted me to find or see something in here.
I squashed my growing frustration and concentrated on using my other senses.
Closing my eyes, I inhaled. The musty smell of decay dominated, but I detected a
faint whiff of lemons. I followed the clean and pure scent—not easy as I tripped and
banged my shins on the clutter—until I stood in the back corner. There a tingle
danced on my skin, raising the hair on my arms. Instinctively I whispered, “Reveal
yourself,” and opened my eyes.
Gray light bloomed before me and transformed into a young boy. He sat on one
of the barrels.
A ghost. A lost soul.
“Where is my mother?” he asked with a thin, tentative voice. “She was sick, too.
She went away and never came back even when I cried for her.”
I moved closer to the boy. The light from him illuminated the room. The rusted
remains of a bed frame and other items indicated the area had been used as the
child’s bedroom long ago.
My bat fluttered in and circled above the boy’s head. I waved it away and
muttered, “Yes, yes, I know. I get it.”
With a squeal sounding like an exasperated finally, he flew out.
I asked the child questions about his mother and family. Just as I suspected, they
had lived and died here many years ago.
“I know where they are,” I said. “I can take you to them.”
The boy smiled. When I held out my hand, he grabbed it. I gathered him to me,
inhaling his soul before sending it to the sky.
The true job of a Soulfinder.
Not to save souls and return them to their bodies, but to guide them to where
they belonged. My true purposed flared to life finally. Stono and Gelsi should have
both been released to the sky. Their personalities changed because they were
unhappy at being denied peace.
Death was not the end. And I knew Valek waited for me, but he wouldn’t want to
see me until I finished finding all the lost and misplaced souls and sent them to their
proper destinations.
There hadn’t been a Soulfinder in over a hundred and twenty-five years. Why
wasn’t Sitia filled with lost souls? Perhaps they were rare.
Renewed determination to find a way to defeat the Fire Warper spread
throughout my body. I left the building and stopped. Five souls hovered in different
locations along the street. The leathery flap of wings announced my bat’s arrival. He
settled on my shoulder.
“Did you call them?” I asked the bat. “Or did I?” I guess I should have been
more specific when I called to the boy. Either that, or now I’d learned a trick I
couldn’t shut off.
I gathered and released souls as I headed back to the Cloverleaf Inn. Most went
to the sky. One dripped with hate and when he sank into the ground, I worried I
might have increased the Fire Warper’s powers.
Before I could enter the inn, the clatter of hooves sounded behind me. I spun in
time to see Leif stop Rusalka. His panic reached me before his words.
“Moon Man,” he gasped. “Moon Man’s been captured!”
BACK IN THE INN’S common room, the five of us sorted through all the
details we had. Moon Man had been captured that afternoon.
“We found no references to the tunnel in the Council Hall’s library,” Leif said.
“We were meeting with an old magician who was hiding from the Vermin. Another
had told us he had information on the construction of the Keep, but when we talked
to the magician he only had vague details. He knew how to create a null shield and he
taught me how to make one. I shouldn’t have tried it. The magic called the Warpers
and we were attacked as we left his house.”
“How did you get away?” Janco asked.
Leif threw his hands up. “One minute we’re surrounded by Vermins, the next a
group of brawling merchants and screaming children practically rolled over
everyone. It was mass confusion. A man grabbed my hand and pulled me out. I hid
until dark. One of the children from the Helping Guild told me Moon Man hadn’t
escaped.”
“The Vermin will know we’re here,” Ari said. “We need to leave now. There’s a
caravan camping about two miles north of here. We can stay with them.”
“Which way is the caravan going?” I asked Ari.
“They have a delivery in the Citadel tomorrow, and then they’re going south to
the Greenblade lands. Why?”
“Oh no!” Leif said. “She’s got that look in her eyes. What are you scheming,
little sister?”
“We have to get inside the Keep.”
“Impossible. There’s a bubble of protective magic around it. We couldn’t find
the entrance to the tunnel. A few Warpers have gained master-level power. You’re
powerful, but nowhere near their level. You’ll be caught in an instant.” Leif crossed
his arms as if his statement ended the discussion.
“That’s a great idea,” I said.
“What?
I ignored Leif’s confusion. “Ari, how ready are the people in the Citadel to
revolt?”
“They’re organized, have some weapons and a few magicians. What I would
really like to do is run a few training sessions, but that’s not going to happen.
They’re as ready as they’re going to get.”
“Would the caravan be willing to lend us one of their wagons?” I asked.
“Something could be arranged.”
Comprehension dawned in Janco’s face. “If we get you inside, can we keep the
five golds?”
“Only if you get us back out again,” I said.
“I don’t like the odds,” Janco said. He brightened. “Gotta love the underdog,
though.”
“There are no odds. It’s suicide,” Leif said.
“Look at it this way, Leif. It’ll put an end to our arguing,” I said.
“How?”
“We die, you’re right. You don’t die, I’m right.”
“I feel so much better now.”
Janco tsked. “Sarcasm is detrimental to the team spirit.”
Ari frowned at me. “Don’t you mean, we don’t die, Yelena?”
I didn’t answer. Valek waited on the other side. My reward.