36
Hyam blew the silent note, then waited, but not for long. Tendrils of mist rose from the baked desert and drifted like smoke from unseen fires. Dozens of them. Hundreds. They took form. And became the Ellismere army.
When Selim started to back away, Meda assured him, “These are allies, as Hyam said.”
The leader held to a shimmering translucence in their mage-torches. He approached Hyam and drew his sword and offered a spectral salute. Hyam touched his forehead in acknowledgment. He started to point at the next ridge when Shona cried, “I can hear them!”
Hyam sighed with genuine relief. “Tell me.”
“H-he says you were right to summon them.”
“Tell me why.”
“Ahead lies danger from beyond time’s reach,” Shona related. “Beings from the realm of hopeless night guard the approach to Alyss. He says, ‘We will serve as guardians against what you cannot see.’”
“Can he also stop these guardians of Alyss from raising the alarm?”
The ghost responded with a warrior’s grim humor. Shona replied, “It will be his pleasure.”
When the general turned away, Hyam called after him, “I asked before, can I release you from your bonds?”
“He thanks you for your question and the desire to assist them.” The phantom general saluted him a second time. Shona translated, “The Milantian threat that overran them at Ellismere has returned. They are content to serve those who defy the tide of evil. For now, it is enough.”
The afternoon grew stifling. The valley where they camped was less than thirty paces wide. The steep hills to either side trapped the heat. The desert silence suited Shona’s mood. She watched as Hyam spent hours crouched upon a rock, pondering the unseen. She continued her lessons with Fareed, but in a halfhearted fashion. Every time she shut her eyes, she again saw herself cradling Hyam through that long and broken night. Here in the heat and the dust, knowing she had done the right thing mattered little. And ever since Olom, her dreams had been pierced by the distant laughter of witches.
When the sun’s descent lengthened the shadows and turned the caverns into leering skulls, Hyam rose from his stone bench and waved for the others to gather. “Come the next dawn or the one after, we are going on the attack. If our spectral allies can keep word from reaching Alyss, we may be able to use the element of surprise.” Hyam turned to Fareed and Shona and said, “Now is the time to test your wands.”
Fareed showed a rare delight. “Truly, sahib, I have dreamed of this.”
“Did you learn how to recharge the Falmouth orb?”
Fareed nodded. “I have read the scroll.”
“Then walk the vales until you find a spot where the miniature orbs begin to glow. We have to hope there is an underground source of power. If not here, then in the valley behind us. Find it. Practice your magery. Concentrate on spells of attack. Especially those using fire. When they become depleted, recharge your wands.”
Selim demanded, “And if the valleys do not mask their use of magic?”
“Then all is lost,” Hyam replied calmly. “But the fact that the amphorae have remained hidden for so long offers a very strong assurance. Because I sensed the scrolls’ power from halfway across Falmouth.”
Shona could see the change in Hyam. It was as though he had used the sweltering afternoon to endure his own metamorphosis. Gone was the hollow stare, the mourning, the pain. In its place was a fierce intensity. To her, Hyam had never been more alluring. The man was coming into his own.
Hyam turned to the desert trader. “There is only one explanation for how you could claim there are more amphorae containing the spells. Because we can be fairly certain the Milantians have followed your tracks and searched the tunnel your forebear used to hide them away.”
“It’s because the scrolls are not there, are they.”
Selim remained silent.
“Your clan split the treasure apart and buried it in many tunnels,” Hyam went on. “And then covered the openings. Didn’t they.”
Shona realized, “You’re going to use a Milantian battle spell against them.”
“The protective shield does not require either an orb or a mage,” Hyam said. “Which means the same could be true for a spell of war. I’m going to try. If Selim will take me to another trove.”
The renegade Elf was already climbing the next ridge. “Are you coming or not?”