CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

The following morning, Satine led Shade and her companions deep into the valley of the Last Bastion. They were joined by Brother Elias, Lord Azure, and Sir Julian. The old men wore their robes as they had in the Glass Fields, as did Satine.

“You’re certain you can convince your Elders to let us go?” Shade asked Satine.

“We will all speak for you, witch,” Julian interjected. He was ahead of her and threw her a glance over his shoulder. Stone-faced as always. She couldn’t tell if he was confident of their chances, or dismally pessimistic.

“We will do our best,” Elias added from behind her, which was hardly a resounding vote of confidence. And he was the most optimistic of them all.

“I can’t imagine the Elders would want you to stay anyway,” Azure grumbled. He was walking beside Julian and didn’t bother to look at her. She grinned at his back, strangely reassured by his derisive comment.

They followed a narrow track beyond the village to a vast lake. Trees lined its far edge, taller and thicker than any forest she’d ever seen. The lake itself reflected the sun in shimmering ripples, and the water was clear. Satine took them around the verdant shore to a clearing in the reeds. A sandy beach abutted the water. Here she stopped and faced them. An expression of concentration settled over her face, and she held her hands over the sand beneath her feet. Suddenly, Shade could feel the qaraz which lay under this entire region. It flowed beneath her feet, moving parallel to the lake shore. A gasp from Angelo told her he felt it too.

“What’s happening?” Matteo demanded. He had his hands on his blade hilts. Shade resisted the urge to grip her weapons. It was an odd sensation, but she felt no threat. The power flowed faster and faster, and she realized it was moving in a spiral. Like a whirlpool of sorts and they were at its edge.

“Be at peace, my child,” Satine said to him. Her eyes had begun to glow with an eerie golden light. The lake behind her rippled as if in a stiff wind. “I am opening the qaraz.”

Light appeared beneath their feet. The sand turned to liquid gold. Angelo gave a startled yelp as they sank into the earth. Amazed at the beauty of the light, Shade let the qaraz absorb her in silence, unafraid. She had always envied the Golondrina ability to travel the qaraz. Her heart pounded with excitement at the sudden unexpected chance. The light enveloped them and there was a sensation of movement.

“Though the Locorum have been corrupted and expelled from the qaraz, these lines of pure magic withstand the blight due to the Golondrina’s vigilance.” It was Satine. Her voice seemed to emanate from the light itself. “Here, they are strongest because we tend them and we use them to shield the Unseen’s prison. If the qaraz outside the Last Bastion become corrupted, eventually, that corruption will reach here, too. I fear what will happen if we do not stabilize the qaraz soon.” Satine’s golden eyes turned toward Shade. “I believe your Veil may be our best chance, Shade. And now we must convince the Elders.”

Ahead of them, a black spot appeared in the radiance. It grew larger, closer. A wall of black suddenly loomed. Satine held Shade’s gaze until she came abreast of the wall, then she turned toward it and was swallowed. Fear choked Shade, and she reached out. Someone clasped her hand and then it was her turn to be swallowed.

They were dropped into darkness. Blinded, fighting panic, Shade clung to the hand in hers. There was solid ground beneath her sandals, but around her was a nothingness as vast as the Wastes. For a moment, she felt overwhelming vertigo. Her breath came hard and fast. The hand she gripped squeezed back just as hard.

“Is it still you?” Matteo asked. Fear laced his words, and somehow it quelled her terror.

“It’s me,” she said, sounding remarkably calm in the pitch blackness. “Angelo?”

“Here,” came Angelo’s strangled answer. “Wherever here is.”

“Did she lead us into a trap?” Matteo whispered.

“Don’t be ridiculous.” A soft light filled the darkness, revealing Satine. The light encompassed her and her companions – the Guardians. Even their robes seemed to gleam.

“You have nothing to fear from us,” Lord Azure said indignantly.

No longer blind, she released her death grip on Matteo’s hand, though not without reluctance. “Where are we? Is this the Unseen’s prison?”

As one, the Guardians turned away from her; they didn’t move, but the space shifted around them. Shade experienced the odd vertigo again and swayed. Matteo reached out with a steadying hand, and Angelo braced his legs wide for balance. They were moving swiftly, though the darkness didn’t change, then the world grew stable again.

“This is the space which holds the Unseen’s prison,” Satine said, lifting an arm in a sweeping gesture. She pointed into the darkness. “That is their true prison.”

Another light emerged from the darkness, a sphere of glowing red.

At first, it was the size of a lamp, as if hanging from a ship across a vast ocean. Again, the vertigo gripped Shade, and the sphere grew from lantern-sized to bonfire-sized. She gasped as the feeling of movement increased. She was speeding toward a glowing red light. It grew larger and larger until she feared it would swallow all of them whole. Flames moved across its surface, ripples of black and orange streaking the crimson globe. There was no heat, but power beat against her face. A twisted power, as unlike the Sicani power as rot was unlike growth. Disturbingly, it was a familiar power.

The blight. The blight that infected the Wastes also inhabited this globe. It pulsed and throbbed, seeking a way out. But something held it back, as the Veils held back the Wastes.

When she was able to turn her attention away from the giant, pulsating ball of flame and darkness, she noticed the Guardians had spread themselves in a circle around it. She could see each of them, though she sensed a vastness in this place beyond comprehension. Others had joined Satine and her fellows, people in robes like theirs. Two men and two women with ageless faces, though their hair had gone silver. Power exuded from them, making Satine and her companions seem like their shadows.

She licked her lips and touched a bone handle of one blade. On impulse, she slid it free of its sheath. The obsidian gleamed as if she’d called magic. More so. It glowed with an inner flame as bright as the earth’s fire that had birthed it. The magic in her blood answered its call, aching to be freed.

Slowly, Shade turned her blade toward her raised forearm, though she couldn’t remember lifting it. Her heart hammered against her breastbone, clattering like the hooves of a runaway horse.

“Stop!” Satine cried. But she wasn’t talking to Shade. Instead, she was facing the man beside her. His robe gleamed as white as hers. Her counterpart? Or he was the master, and she the apprentice? The man was exceedingly handsome, his white hair long and shining, held back by a leather cord around his forehead. His high cheeks and fine brows, his stature and proud bearing, reminded her of Korin Illario, though his face was smooth. He was watching her, his golden eyes shining.

“Do not speak so to an Elder,” admonished a woman in blue robes. She stood beside Azure, short and apple-cheeked but no less beautiful than her companion. Her white hair was captured in a thick braid which hung to her hip. “We can sense her strength. Longinus must do what is best for all of us.”

The best for all of them. Yes, it made so much sense. Shade found herself nodding. Her blade trembled above her arm. It would be so easy to draw…

“Release her!” cried Satine desperately. “This isn’t why I brought her here! Elder Longinus, please listen to me.”

“Lady Diamond, remember your place,” the woman beside Sir Julian said. Her skin was a few shades darker than Julian’s, and her hair was a mass of white curls. “You better than anyone know what is at stake.”

“Yes, Elder Beryl, I do.” Satine clutched the folds of her robe, her eyes darting from the Elders to Shade, full of panic. “I’ve already lost everyone dear to me, and the sacrifice still isn’t enough. But she will not be another sacrifice to our cause. She will be more than this. Shade Nox must be sent to the Nexus. She must raise her Veil!”

“A Veil at the Nexus?” cried the woman in blue. “If she tries and fails, she could doom us all! Do you have so much faith in this… this witch that you would propose such a perilous endeavor? Surely you realize we stand on a precipice. Now is not the time to take a leap!”

“Elder Sapphira, it is you who does not understand.” Brother Elias spoke this time. His deep voice resonated. “Shade Nox will pull us back from the precipice. Her Veil has the potential to stabilize all the others, to strengthen the qaraz! She will give us what we so desperately need: time.”

The short, plump monk stood beside a red-robed man half a head taller than him with fierce eyes and a hawk’s nose, yet he spoke with such conviction, he overshadowed the scowling Elder.

“In that you are correct, Elias,” Elder Longinus replied. His bright eyes remained on Shade. She felt sweat pop out on her upper lip. His was the power pushing her to draw blood. “Adding her strength to ours could help us hold the gates for a hundred more years.”

“Her power would be wasted here,” Sir Julian countered, a touch of disdain in his voice. He towered over the slim, dark woman beside him, but he stood a step behind her in obvious deference. She turned to look at him, her smooth, attractive features slack with surprise. His lips thinned as he met her gaze, and he ducked his head. “Forgive my rudeness, Lady Beryl, but I cannot remain silent. With all due respect, Revered Elders, you are wrong.”

“Do all of you feel this way?” the fourth Elder exclaimed, the man in red. He strode closer to the vast, red sun dominating the emptiness, and lifted his hand toward it. “Do you truly believe ours is not the more important work? Lord Azure? What say you?”

Lord Azure bent his head, grimacing. “Elder Rosso, the witch is reckless, arrogant, rude and uncivilized.” He lifted his head, and his eyes blazed. “And I truly believe she will save the land from tipping into chaos. She must be allowed to try!”

His statement sent ripples of shock through the Elders. They began to squabble among themselves. Shade, too, was surprised by Azure’s support, but she took the chance to push back against Longinus while he was distracted. He glared at her, his handsome face growing pale and almost gaunt, but she felt the pressure on her ease.

With sudden clarity, she realized the power flowing from him wasn’t only directed at her. Her eyes fixed on the pulsing horror of the Unseen’s prison. Even as the Elders and Guardians argued, power bled from them. All of them fed the prison, giving their strength and magic to the task. She hadn’t even noticed Elias and the others yielding their blades, but she could feel their bloodmagic feeding the great, coruscating globe. They were tied to it as firmly as a wizard to their Veil, but the cost, the sacrifice was far greater.

Beside her, Angelo’s gaze was locked on the guardians in their circle. The Elders were still arguing with Satine and her companions, but their energy and strength faded visibly as they fed the prison. “Look what they give to that thing,” he said softly. “They are trapped by it as much as it traps the Unseen.”

Unseen. Shade felt her gaze drawn to the angry red sphere; it fought against the power containing it. Somewhere beneath its swirling surface a vast horde of creatures teemed riotously. A hive of hornets struggling to find an opening, to overwhelm the enemies attempting to restrain them and sting, sting, sting!

“It is a noble sacrifice,” Matteo said. He had gripped his blades fiercely, and his bright eyes were pinned on the prison hovering above them. An expression close to rapture shone on his face. Angelo eyed him with concern.

“Yes,” Shade agreed. A battle raged in this strange, empty place, an unending fight. The evil imprisoned here had destroyed her home, her land. The foul blight of the Unseen continued to infect Malavita, rendering most of it a wasteland. If the Sicani failed to keep them trapped, they would poison everything. The land would descend into darkness and ruin. The world…

Here was the true fight, the true sacrifice. How could she walk away?

Her blade hung a hair’s breadth over her forearm.

“This is not your fight, witch. Don’t give into the call as we did.”

It was Sir Julian, speaking to her from across the vast, empty expanse, though it sounded as though he stood in front of her. She could even see his dark eyes, gleaming red with power.

“What if I fail?” she asked, surprised to so willingly admit her deepest fear. And when she spoke it aloud, she understood it wasn’t just Longinus’ power pushing her to make a choice. It would be so easy to stay here…

A gentle smile graced his lips, softening the hard angles of his face. “You won’t fail. If Lady Diamond has such faith in you, how can you?”

“You are far too stubborn to fail,” Azure added cantankerously. “And I for one would like to see the back of you, thank you very much.”

“Your fate is not with us, my child,” Elias said, smiling his broad, kindly smile. “You belong to the world outside our Bastion. Your Veil will bring new life.”

Reluctantly, Shade turned to Satine. Here was the true temptation, she knew in her heart. Her pain and grief at losing Satine had eased, but she still loved her. Desire uncurled in her heart, a wanting that would never entirely vanish.

“Your place is not with me, Shade.” Satine drew herself up in her silver robes, her black tresses flowing like living things in the wake of her power. “Only you have the chance to restore balance. Adding your power to this prison would be worse than failing to raise a Veil. Our power is fading, this prison cannot hold. There is nothing here but a slow death.”

The last of Shade’s uncertainty faded. She returned her blade to its sheath, her limbs trembling as if she’d just climbed a mountain. She might very well fail at raising her Veil, but Satine was right: she was the only one who had a chance. She faced Elder Longinus. “I’ve made my choice. I must go to the Nexus.”

Elder Longinus’ face crumpled. “We need new strength.” The Sicani Elder no longer looked ageless or serene. The other Elders appeared just as distraught, just as diminished.

These people are fading. She felt a touch of pity for the loss. The legendary Sicani were no more. The reality was a shock, and a cruel disappointment. They were not the answer to Malavita’s problems. It would take all they had left to keep their Bastion strong. And, eventually, it, too, would fade. And fail.

But it was not her fight…

“Will you let me go?” she demanded.

Wearily, Longinus nodded. Satine laid a gentle hand on his arm. “Thank you, Elder Longinus.” She turned shining eyes on Shade.

A sudden wave of power shuddered past Shade, and she started, thinking Longinus had gone back on his word. But the Elder had his hands raised and golden light had appeared beneath his feet. He was opening the qaraz as Satine had done. Someone else had released that power, and it hadn’t been directed at her.

And it had not been Sicani power…

She searched for the source and met Sir Julian’s dark eyes. He had an emerald blade drawn and blood stained the sleeve of his robe. He smiled sadly. “We need new blood, I’m afraid. The young pup is strong.”

“Shade…”

Full of dread, Shade spun toward Matteo. His blue eyes shone strangely, and he was smiling. “Someone has to make the sacrifice…” and he raised a tourmaline blade.

A stab of unexpected fear struck her heart. She inhaled sharply. “No.”

“Someone does,” Angelo said softly, and he stepped in front of Shade to take his brother by the wrist. “But it won’t be you, little brother.”

Confusion wrinkled Matteo’s features. His mouth gaped as he stared at his older brother. Angelo kept a firm hold on his wrist, keeping the sharp blade from Matteo’s flesh. “You have to protect the lady,” he told him, then he pulled him into a fierce embrace. He forced Matteo’s tourmaline blade back into its sheath. His brother didn’t fight him. Twisting, Angelo shoved Matteo at Shade. She caught him as he stumbled.

“You watch over him, too, lady witch!” he said gruffly, and he drew his topaz blades. Grief crumpled his features. “I’m all he has in the world.” Tears spilled down his cheeks. He raised his blades. “All he had.”

“Angelo, don’t let them force you.” But his eyes were clear, and she felt no new wave of power. He smiled at her through his tears, and she knew he’d made his choice. “Angelo…”

“Huh,” Julian grunted, respect clear in his voice. “A worthy older pup will do even better.”

By now, Matteo was coming back to himself. His eyes screwed up with confusion to see his brother standing with drawn blades. “Angie?”

The golden gleam beneath Longinus stretched to include Shade and Matteo. Angelo stood outside it, watching them with resignation. And not a little fear. He met Shade’s eyes and took a deep breath. His tears had dried. His bright blade sliced across the back of his arm. Blood and magic slid free; it arrowed toward the ball of red fire, connecting Angelo to it, and in turn connecting him to the Elders and their Guardians. A glowing aura surrounded the robed figures, extending to encompass Angelo, as well.

Joy replaced the fear in his eyes, the grief. A smile split his face and he laughed.

“No,” Matteo said, and he stepped toward the edge of the qaraz. But it was already too late; they were sinking into golden light. He shouted and lunged toward his brother, but Shade held him back, grappling with him. “It’s too late!” she cried, but he was wild with anger and grief.

“Why!” he screamed, reaching out to his brother even as Angelo’s aura grew brighter, stronger. “Angie! Please! Don’t do this!”

“Go with our witch, Matteo. Keep her safe.”

“Angie!”

Shade clung to Matteo, holding him with all the strength in her. Suddenly, he wasn’t fighting her, but reaching for his own blades, trying to draw. “No!” she shouted, terrified she would lose them both.

“You are free, Shade,” Satine said, her voice inside her head. “Both of you. Stay safe, my sweet girl…”

The qaraz swallowed them. Vertigo gripped her. She clung to Matteo as they seemed to fall through the earth. This was different than before; they plunged into a maelstrom of swirling light and energy. Something great and powerful took hold of them. The world shifted…