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Every step took her closer to the future.
Nyori's fingers lightly brushed the roughly-hewn surface of the hand-carved stone corridor. It seemed to whisper secrets from every crevice, the mouth at the end only a teasing mirage that lengthened with every forward step. Its iridescent glow beckoned from the Chamber of Pools. She had never seen them, but she knew what to expect. Water that was not water, liquid that glimmered of its own accord. The Pools were only utilized for rites of passage. In her case, to symbolize her transition from an apprentice to an anointed Shama.
Slow, easy breaths.
Her heart quickened regardless. She had yearned for the day, tasted the expectation since her parents hastened to Halladen and delivered her to the Sha ten summers ago. Her village in the Steppes was quickly put behind her, a life to which she could never return. Her new life was in Halladen, the Hidden City. Buried deep in the circle of mountains centered in the vast and wild Great Steppes, it was the abode of the Sha, masters of healing arts and keepers of ancient lore.
"Do you remember, Nyori?"
Nyori glanced over her shoulder. Ayna was a comforting shadow behind her, in the tradition for the student's Sura to witness the anointment. Ayna's eyes glowed golden in the dim light beneath the wide cowl that covered her head. Nyori might have found such an oddity discomforting at once, but she had years to become used to her mentor's distinctive traits.
"Remember what?"
Ayna seemed to smile comfortingly, but Nyori couldn't tell in the darkness. "The days when you first came to us. Such eagerness. Many hang back from fear or unease, but not you. You tackled every new lesson as though it was your last, pestering your instructors until they finally presented you to me."
Nyori smiled at the memory. Ayna only dealt with the most talented students, and was the only instructor who could handle Nyori's insatiable desire to learn everything. Nyori quickly surpassed the other apprentices, mastering the basic skills so swiftly that Ayna was practically forced to devote special training to her eager and adept pupil.
"I still am not as young as when you became a Shama, Ayna."
"You are the youngest we have had since my anointment. You should be proud of yourself, Nyori. I certainly am."
Nyori felt a swell of satisfaction at her Sura's words. Anya was never one to dole out gratuitous praise, something her apprentices understood all too well. While never harsh, she was rarely satisfied, always ready to extract more from her talented pupils.
They continued in silence for seconds or ages before they finally emerged from the tunnel. It opened to a rounded chamber of black stone flecked with glimmering azure runes, or Glyphs. Each tiny character pulsed, beckoning Nyori to understand their language and harness their power. The illusion of a clear night sky was so convincing that she felt a temporary wave of dizziness.
A trio of Pools glittered in front of her, frosted liquid that lay undisturbed by even a single ripple. Each was encircled by a metallic ring engraved with Glyphs that pulsed in alternating patterns of golden light. She felt the current that emanated from their shimmering surfaces. Not Eler, the energy of life. It was Aether, the energy from the heavens. The Pools were all that illuminated the chamber, casting it in hues of shimmering blue. Her white bathing dress glowed in its radiance.
Each Pool had a separate purpose, but only one directly concerned her. She knew in advance her path led to the Pool on the left.
Where the Ternion waited.
They were spoken of reverently, almost apprehensively. No one had seen them outside the Chamber of Pools, as if they didn't exist anywhere else. Despite her best attempts to unearth answers, Nyori had learned nothing useful about them at all.
The trio turned as she entered, their faces shrouded from the wide hoods of their tattered robes of faded black. For a moment, she was paralyzed by their scrutiny, the hidden gazes that probed almost intrusively, penetrating as though she were naked and defenseless.
The vulnerable sensation dissipated when Ayna placed a comforting hand on Nyori's shoulder. Nyori almost gripped it gratefully, but clasped her hands instead and forced herself to meet the piercing stares of the Ternion. The silence stretched for moments of eternity.
A bead of sweat slid down her temple.
What are they waiting for?
As if reading her thoughts, one of Ternion shuffled forward three steps. Her voice dragged across the dry walls of her throat in more of a croak than a voice. "Whom do you bring with you, Daughter?"
Ayna stepped forward, not looking at Nyori when she answered. "One who has learned. One who would learn more. One who is ready."
Another Ternion hobbled forward. Try as she could, Nyori could not penetrate the gloom of their hoods to see their faces. "Nyori Sharlin, apprentice of the Sha. Once the path is taken, there is no turning back. Are you ready to face what lies beyond?" Her voice was the same as her Sister, as though they shared the same mouth.
Nyori swallowed hard. It was almost a shock that her voice did not break when she answered. "I am ready, Mother Ternion."
The third Ternion took three creaking steps forward and extended her hand. The fingers were gnarled almost beyond recognition, like skeletal sticks covered by leathery parchment. "Then come. I am called Norna. I will take you to the Eye."
Nyori did not know why she hesitated. She was acutely aware of Ayna's expectant gaze, of her own desire to step forward. Yet her feet would not respond. Not while looking into the endless shadows of the faceless hood in front of her.
"I ... I want to see your face." Nyori sensed Ayna stiffen behind her, but kept her gaze steady. "If you don't mind."
Norna's knotted hands rose to clutch the frayed ends of her hood, where they hesitated. "Are you afraid, Daughter?"
With her heart trying to beat out of her chest, there was no need for denial.
"Yes."
"As you should be."
The hood was snatched back, and Nyori gasped.
Crystalline eyes practically glowed from a face almost as young as Nyori's. The tattered robes were replaced by finely spun wool. Norna's hair was lustrous and raven-black, her skin smooth and flawless. Her voice was almost musical.
"But fear is not a bad thing, Nyori. Not when sagacity tempers it. You are right not to accept illusion without question. Your inquisitive nature will serve you well in your role as a Shama. If you choose to continue." She quirked a bemused eyebrow.
"I am ready, Mother Ternion," Nyori said quickly. She took the offered hand and followed Norna to the other Ternion.
"Paera, Moira. Please welcome Nyori Sharlin, our newest daughter," Norna said. They nodded gravely, looking so similar that Nyori could scarcely tell the difference.
Perhaps one illusion was just exchanged for another. It didn't matter. What mattered lay in front of her.
The waters of the Pool were warm and tingled slightly. It was the sensation of moisture without being touched, immersing in liquid lighter than air. The Ternion held her gently by the shoulders and neck as they slowly tilted her backward.
Norna smiled encouragingly. "When you arise, you will be shed of your old life and born into your new one. Look into the Eye, and do not fear what you discover."
Nyori clasped her arms across her chest. They lowered her until she completely submerged under the surface. Blue-tinged ripples distorted her view, transforming the Ternion into indistinct figures in glowing white.
She closed her eyes and Shifted.
The focus required to switch from the Outer to the Inner mind was one the majority of apprentices never achieved. Many spent years trying to learn to Shift, only to burn themselves out on equal portions of frustration and futility.
Nyori had learned in weeks.
When she opened her Inner eye, she viewed her own motionless body gelled in the glowing water as though frozen. Time moved differently in the Shift, as seconds could turn into hours and minutes into days. She had all the time she needed to seek the Eye.
She turned and swam downward, where the light muted until it appeared nothing existed but shadows. She took a wary glance behind. Her body was still submerged, but so far away it seemed almost indistinct. For a moment, she hesitated.
Once the path is taken, there is no turning back.
When she turned again, the Eye of Everfell stared into her face.
It was embedded in the carving of an enormous face that protruded from the murky bottom. Determining if an entire statue lay buried there was impossible, but it would tower high as the hills if it were so. Time and erosion had long obscured the statue's features, but the Eye remained, centered in the statue's forehead. In place of the iris was a dimly glowing orb around the size of Nyori's face. As she drifted closer, it appeared cloudy, as if to envelop the secrets it held within. The swirling haze dissipated at her touch, the orb effused with a warm glow.
It flashed, brilliant as sudden sunlight. The orb became translucent, reflective as glass. She had a startling sensation of being seen by the mirrored eye, watched by something grave and terrible. Her reflected image was indistinct, washed out. She squeezed her eyes shut and felt a sensation like fading, disappearing into something lighter than air.
~*~
WHEN SHE REGAINED HER senses, she immediately knew something was wrong. Her hands scraped against cracked and pitted stones. It was something substantial. Something solid.
Nyori slowly lifted her head.
There were no trees, but autumn leaves floated like dying butterflies swept along by an imperceptible wind. A ring of blue-tinged stone towers surrounded her. The view beyond the circle was a washed-out painting, a hazy backdrop of drab hills seemingly placed to conceal the nothing that lay beyond. Only the towers of perfectly stacked stone appeared solid. Beyond their boundaries, everything distorted. She gasped when she stared upward. In place of the sky, an ebony ocean rippled above her head. Sapphire shimmers danced among the waves like mischievous jellyfish posing as stars.
She was no longer in the waters of the Pool, no longer anywhere familiar. Somehow the Eye had transported her into a completely different realm. Her heart pounded. She knew the dangers of Shifting minds, but they were always metaphysical, dangers of drifting too far from herself, losing the anchor of her physical body while in her Inner mind. Nothing was said of physically transporting from one place to another. Her hair swung slowly, floating across her face as she turned around to view her surroundings.
"Where am I?" Her voice distorted as it echoed around her in mocking fashion.
"You are in Everfell, child."
Nyori's heart leaped into her throat at the sound of the mysterious voice. She whirled around, moving as though still immersed in water. A black-cloaked figure glided from behind one of the towering slabs of stone, gazing with an intensity that Nyori felt. Cold seeped into her bones as though the figure touched her with icy fingers.
"Everfell? I didn't know..." Nyori took a cautious step back. "Who are you?"
The figure advanced. Nyori caught sight of a woman's face, fine-featured and ageless. Her skin was white as bone, her lips painted black, her irises the color of blood. Ebony robes covered her from head to foot, embroidered with jet roses at the hems and the wide sash at her waist. Twin black-lacquered daggers were thrust into the waistband.
Her crimson eyes glowed from beneath her sooty lashes when she spoke. "I am Leilavin, child. I am the keeper of Eymunder and master of this realm. Your trespass is forbidden. Who are you? How did you arrive here?" Her voice lashed like a whip, demanding a response.
Nyori edged back from the woman's fierce stare. "My name is Nyori Sharlin. I ... the Eye of Everfell brought me here."
Leilavin paused, searching Nyori's face as if seeking confirmation of her words. Nyori felt a tingle across her scalp. Is she capable of reading my mind? She shivered at the thought.
Leilavin tilted her head in a birdlike fashion. Her words only confirmed Nyori's fears. "You speak truly. The Eye did indeed bring you here. But why? Unless ... you are not a descendant of the Theurgist, are you?"
"I don't understand."
"It may be. One way to find out. Come quickly." Leilavin strode past Nyori, beckoning urgently. "Hurry, child. If you possess the proper bloodline, you will be able to take Eymunder away from this place before it falls."
Nyori hesitated. Leilavin was small in stature, but her appearance and bearing cast an intimidating shadow. Like the Ternion, Leilavin did not need to declare her power. Her overwhelming aura spoke for her, whispered of secrets and darkness.
Leilavin's silken cloak ruffled as she hurried down a narrow path of beaten ground. "Your arrival is either fate or tragic happenstance. The Pale Lord is on his way here as we speak. I have slowed his approach, but he is more powerful than I have foreseen. He will arrive soon. You must claim Eymunder before he does."
Nyori rushed to catch up to the swiftly moving woman. The movement was strangely dizzying, the blurry surroundings disorienting her. "What are you talking about? I only want to find a way to get—" She paused as they entered a clearing.
A rounded slab of stone was cut to resemble a table in the center of the towers. Familiar waters surrounded it, glassy liquid that glimmered as though lit by azure fires.
Much like the Pool at home.
Leilavin pointed. "Go, quickly. Place your hands on the stone, and Eymunder will be yours."
Nyori hesitated. "I don't even know what Eymunder is. You have to be able to tell me something."
Leilavin looked around as though expecting a sudden attack, her bloodless face half-covered by her cowl. "Eymunder is a powerful Geod that was hidden from your world for ages. Once, it aided the most powerful of the Elious. There is no time to say more, child. You must have been ushered here for a purpose. If you do not act, many will suffer for your lack of courage."
Nyori took a deep breath. "Is this some sort of test, then? Is that why the Eye brought me here?"
Leilavin regarded her coldly, impatience burning in her eyes. "This is no test, child. I am at the last of my resources. My realm is under attack, and you appeared from nowhere at the time of my greatest need. Perhaps this is providence. But you must act swiftly, or the two of us will die very soon. The Pale Lord is not known for his mercy."
Nyori expanded her senses, trying to read what she could of the other woman. She had been taught to feel for intentions, whether a person meant to help or harm. But she could not read anything from Leilavin. It was dizzying even to try, as though the focus vanished in the sucking whirlpool of Leilavin's presence.
Once the path is taken, there is no turning back.
Norna's words whispered in the back of Nyori's mind. All she knew was the Pool took her into Everfell, and the same waters were before her. If it was the only way back...
She hesitantly stepped into the blue water. The sensation was as the Pool back home—dry though wet, tingling as though seeping inside of her. She waded to the slab and stepped onto the stone platform. The slab was smooth and glassy as though polished. Glyphs were carved around the lip, unreadable runes that seemed to murmur just beyond her understanding. The dark, liquid sky reflected across its glossy surface.
"Place your hands on the stone," Leilavin said.
Nyori followed the instructions. The stone hummed, warming at her touch, and the Glyphs glowed like molten gold across the table's face. Nyori's fingers were pulled with irresistible force, latching to the surface as though her skin melded with the stone. She immediately panicked, trying to tear her hands free. To her dismay, it was useless. There was a better chance of ripping her hands from her wrists than detaching them from the slab. She looked frantically over her shoulder.
Leilavin smiled. "Almost there, child. Calm yourself. You will be able to claim Eymunder soon. Look." She pointed.
Nyori turned back to the table. A perfect circle opened in its center. What emerged from the cavity was a slender rod about the length of Nyori's forearm. It appeared to be made of glassy crystal, topped by a small orb of amber.
"Quickly. Take the staff, child!"
Nyori almost staggered when her hands were unexpectedly freed from their imprisonment. She flexed her fingers experimentally but didn't see any damage done. She hesitantly reached for the rod, but the table was too tall. Eymunder lay inches from her grasp.
"I can't ... reach it."
"You must," Leilavin said. "The staff belongs to you. You must claim it."
Nyori stretched desperately, but the crystal rod still lay out of reach.
Lightning forked across the ebony ocean above them. The flickering lights became agitated, scattering across the surface as though Everfell itself shuddered in fear.
"Focus. The Pale Lord is close." Leilavin's voice thickened with dread.
Nyori cleared her mind as she did when Shifting. She focused on the wand. Only the rod, and not on the distance between it and her hand, but in her grasp.
The glassy wand slid across the surface into her waiting fingers.
Liquid fire laced across her hands and forearms when Eymunder touched her, burning patterns of Glyphs into her flesh as if tattooed there by lightning. She barely had time to register the heat before the symbols melded into her skin. Gasping, she stared at the fading characters, which pulsed in time with her rapidly beating heart before they slowly faded away as if never there.
Leilavin was at her side in an instant, so quickly that Nyori hadn't seen her cross the waters. Her face was exultant, eyes beaming scarlet light from the shadows of her cowl. "Eymunder has bonded to you, implausible as it seems. You have prevented a tragedy, child. But now you must leave this place, or our efforts are for naught."
Nyori clutched the crystal rod to her chest. "Bonded—what does that mean? I—"
"Leilavin!"
The voice that roared the name was ragged but strong. Nyori turned and saw a man staggering toward them.
At least she thought he was a man. He could have been Leilavin's brother: his face was nearly as bloodless and bore similar fine-boned features. But where her eyes were rubies, his were sapphires, shimmering and cold as frozen lakes. His armor appeared to be beaten sheets of silver chased in ivory, once wondrous but now scarred and battered, stained in blood and muddy earth. His face and long silver hair were sullied as well, haggard and worn from pain and exhaustion. Every step he took seemed to take great effort, as though flesh had failed him and he stood upright solely from some inner defiance or indomitable will.
A torrent of rain dropped from the sky at his appearance, immediately soaking them to the bone. Nyori did not need Leilavin to name him. She already knew who he was.
The Pale Lord.
Nyori's breath caught at the sight of the naked sword in his fist. It was a sword of minstrel's tales, a weapon that belonged to warriors and kings of myth and legend. The blade was long and edged on one side, slightly curved to give it a graceful appearance. The blade's surface was blue-tinted and reflective as rippling sheets of glittering ice. Unreadable Glyphs were etched across it in gold. An obsidian orb centered the crosspiece, darker than any black Nyori had ever seen.
"I have destroyed your Reavers," the Pale Lord said, his eyes fixed on Leilavin. "They will torment my people no longer. I met them on the high passes and cut their numbers in half. Those that remained to guard this Threshold sought to ambush me as I arrived. Their husks lie outside the gates. All of their might was nothing against the bearer of Nemon." He hefted the sword, which flashed like liquid starlight.
"At what price, Alaric?" Leilavin stood in front of Nyori protectively. Her silken robes clung to her slim form, soaked through by the downpour. "That blade had a different purpose once. The Battle Sage cast it aside after releasing the souls captured by its Geod. The Shadow Prince corrupted it so that it feeds on a single soul now. Look at your hair. Your skin. It has fed well on your essence. Soon all of you will be lost."
Alaric's face contorted in heated rage, though his words were spoken between vapor-clouded breaths, exposing his fatigue. "My soul is strong enough. Enough to finish your Reavers. Enough to force my way into your aether-realm and claim what is mine."
"Eymunder is not yours, Alaric. And it never will be."
Alaric drew close enough for Nyori to see the blue veins that crisscrossed his face beneath the almost transparent skin. His features might have been handsome once, but now his bones pushed against the flesh, molding his face into a living skull. He looked like a dead man except for his glimmering eyes.
"My claim is as good as yours, Leilavin. You deceived my people with your fickle promises. You have cursed our existence, but I will redeem us. The price I paid to wield Nemon was not merely to slay your Reavers. It was to bring me here, to your sanctum. Eymunder is the salvation of my people, and I will have it. Step aside."
Leilavin's voice turned smug. "You know I cannot wield the staff. But Eymunder has been claimed." She pulled Nyori forward, placing her lily-white hands on Nyori's shoulders. "A descendant of the Elious has the birthright. You cannot deny it, Alaric."
Nyori expected Alaric to explode with rage, but he only gazed at her with his glimmering eyes. She thought she saw sadness there, almost hidden in the smoldering blue fires.
He returned his gaze to Leilavin. "I expected you to have one last act of deceit, Leilavin. It would be so unlike you to surrender without one. You expect me to walk away because this waif has claimed Eymunder? What good will it do her? Her people have forgotten the ways of Apokrypy and know nothing of the Crafts. They are only shadows of whispers, sparks that flicker briefly and die when expelled from the fire."
He gazed at the iridescent sword in his fist. "What is one more life taken compared to the black deeds I have already done? Her death means nothing to me. I expected better of you, Leilavin."
He turned his gaze to Nyori, and she saw the fatal verdict in his haunted stare.
Leilavin shoved her forward. "Go, child!"
Nyori opened her mouth, but she was already falling. She caught sight of the rage and confusion on Alaric's face as he stretched out his hand to her.
She tumbled into the blue-frosted waters of the Pool.
The waters that had only been knee-deep were suddenly fathomless. They flashed as they swallowed her. A monstrous undertow yanked her
streaks of inverted light whipped by as she was pulled at impossible speeds, ever faster until the water glistened like liquid glass. The Eye of Everfell drew nearer, filling her vision, only this time it was aflame, searing despite the waters that surrounded it. The statue melted like heated wax; tears of melted stone flowed into the frothing water. The Eye saw through her, into her, before her body rushed toward her, or she rushed toward her body. She Shifted in wild desperation...
Time unfroze as she emerged from the pool with a roaring gasp. Daggers of fire stabbed her lungs and liquid spewed from her mouth as she flailed before sinking again. Shocked, urgent voices became audible.
"There! She came up there!"
"How could she..."
"Grab her before she sinks again!"
"Where did she..."
"That's it! Hold her..."
Gentle arms supported her. She was lifted, only half aware the chamber was now crowded with Shama, women and their male counterparts. One of the Ternion sisters spoke in a commanding voice that rang over the din.
"You will not disobey the laws of the Chamber, no matter what the cause! Leave matters in our hands before you blight this chamber with your trespass."
Anxious and confused voices smothered the air with questions as the others obeyed, but the only voice Nyori focused on was Norna's, cool and soothing in her ears.
"That's it. Just breathe, Nyori. You're going to be all right."
It hurt just to move, to open her mouth to ask. "What happened, Mother Ternion?"
Norna's eyes were troubled. "You vanished. We don't know where you went. Or how you got back. All we know is after you disappeared, things changed within the Eye."
"What ... what do you mean? What changed?"
Then she felt it. The weight of Eymunder tugged like a bar of iron in her hand. She painfully lifted her arm to gaze at the crystallized wand.
Norna looked at her pityingly. "Everything, Nyori. Everything has changed."