Azurite (Daughter of the Mountain Book 1) (29 page)

“That’s blasphemy, Brother!  And not possible” Jerome argued angrily.  “The five founding sorcerers eternally secured the rifts in Ithillium after The Deceiver was executed, right before the Border went up!  In the thousands of years that Wardens have been surveying these lands, never has a secured web simply vanished!  You must be mistaken.”

“Calm down, Jerome,” Maddox said gruffly.  “Let Liam defend himself.”  The Captain’s questioning grey eyes met his, and Liam could see firelight dancing in his black pupils.  Liam gulped hard.

“I know for a fact the web was gone,” he answered slowly.  “Because I entered the Forest of Mirth myself.  I walked along its dirt paths and touched the diseased trees of death.  There was no wall in place to hold me back.”

“You’re speaking a falsehood!” Jerome accused him again.  “Everything you’re saying is impossible!  Would you dare make such a declaration in front of the High Priests?  Would you be so eager to contradict the history of Cerendova in front of the entire capitol!” 

Liam felt ire ignite in his blood.  No Warden would ever jest when it came to their duty in the Commoner Realm.  He stood up heatedly and stalked over to Jerome to get right in his face.

“What I’m saying is entirely true!  I swear on the holy name of the Creator and the goodness of the Guardians.  I’m telling you that’s what I saw!  Do you want me to call on Sariel?  He was there with me and you can ask him yourself because all of us know that Guardians cannot lie!”  Liam was breathing hard, and his deep voice resonated through the cypress walled lagoon.

“Sit down, Liam,” Captain Maddox instructed with an accompanying hand gesture.  “It’s not worth feuding about right now.  Jerome, we must not allow anger to cause contention amongst us.”  Liam bit the inside of his cheeks to keep from quarreling anymore with Jerome.  He stomped back to his seat. 

“I believe you, Liam,” Isaac admitted, glancing over at Jerome as he said it.  He nudged Aaron next to him with his elbow.  “Tell Liam what you experienced in the deserts of Wayanee.  Perhaps there are parallels in both your stories that will help us make sense of what is happening.”

Aaron considered this for a moment then laced his hands together and leaned over his bent knees.  His gaze lingered heavily on Liam. 

“I was traveling through the Hamid Al’Teri desert a couple of months ago while trying to reach the Sombi Crater.  If you all don’t know, the crater itself is about twenty miles across and twelve miles deep, so it takes me quite a while to traverse the extent of it.   Once I arrived there, I spent a week in the small nomadic village of Jiharid on the northeastern border of the crater.  Daily I walked the diameter and perimeter of my Zone checking for anything unusual, but it looked perfectly fine.”  Aaron sat back and leaned his head against a tree trunk behind him.  He closed his eyes as if trying to beckon a vital memory. 

“I know some of you haven’t seen the crescent dunes of the Hamid Al’Teri, but all of you must venture there someday, because they truly are a sight to behold.  During the summer, when the sun is closest to the earth and the days are long, their vibrant russet color shines like golden citrine gemstones.  The desert sand itself is as soft as a phoenix feather and flows through your hands like water.”  Aaron stopped and licked is lips, almost as if he could taste the dry heat of the treeless lands he frequently visited as a Warden.

“When I went there this time, however, the desert was somehow changed, and not for the better.  The land was hard and cracked, as if the sand had been compacted together like brick stone and left out in the sun to dry.  The magnificent tawny dunes had nearly blown away in continuous sand storms that now beat the lands, leaving nothing but insignificant hills of nothingness in its wake.” 

“On the last night, as I was doing my rounds, the most peculiar thing happened.  I noticed that the aridness surrounding me was overtaken with the most fetid odor that made me bilious to my stomach, although not enough tribes dwell near the crater that would be the cause of it.  At the same time, the noxious air I was breathing became heavy against my body and burned in my chest causing me to become weak.  Unsure of what was occurring, I mounted my beast, who was also experiencing the same symptoms, and fled to the nearby village to inquire if the locals knew what could be causing such a peculiarity.” 

“The symptoms only got worse as I traveled away from the source, and the heavy feeling of the air increased no matter how far away from the crater I got.  When I was two leagues away and climbing the encircling dunes, I stopped to rest.  I turned back around to look over the Sombi Crater one last time before I reached the village.  What I saw still leaves me flabbergasted to this day.”  Aaron paused as if to build up anticipation among the group of Wardens who were intently listening to his tale.

“What I saw in the middle of the Hamid Al’Teri desert was a raging fire engulfing the entire Sombi crater.  Miles deep into the earth it went and miles across it ran.  It appeared as a bowl of evil flame ignited by an unseen force, in the middle of a dry wasteland.  I’ve never seen anything like it just burst from the depths of the desert for no explicable reason.”

“How long ago was this?” Liam asked, thinking in his own mind about the abnormal changes he’d seen in Samaria’s environment as well.  “Does the fire still burn?  Could it not have been caused by human meddling?” 

“This happened last summer.  To this day it still burns with the same ferocity as it did that night, although it’s contained within the edges of the crater only.  The land around it has remained unharmed.”  Aaron threw a rock in the fire pit sending embers flying into the surrounding darkness.  Liam looked around at the group again.

“And all of you have experienced such phenomena as of late?” he asked.  All three Wardens nodded.

“Korbin was the last one to confirm a similar occurrence,” Maddox added forebodingly.  “That’s why I called all of you back to Cerendova prematurely and with such urgency.  I fear there are strange works at hand, Brothers.  I felt as though it would be safer to travel through the Border as an armed squad rather than alone and exposed…”

Captain Maddox suddenly paused mid-sentence as if something had distracted him.  He looked over his right shoulder with alert eyes and taut muscles.  The other Wardens also went quiet as their Captain quickly turned around to where the cluster of lonesome red cypress trees cleared.  He stood up slowly till he was in a low crouch, and his hand grasped the hilt of his freshly cleaned sword.  Then Liam felt it too.  Someone was closing in on their location, quickly and in fear.

The thumping of hoofs on the wet earth and the heavy breathing of horses being pursued in the darkness confirmed the Wardens’ suspicions.  They listened as the sounds of approaching strangers came nearer, and each Warden had their hands hovering near their weapons incase they were forced to use them.  Suddenly, two mounts broke through the clearing, announcing the arrival of Korbin Black and Avery Morris.  The beasts were snickering nervously as they were halted by the two heavily armed riders.  Korbin threw back his hood and swung his spooked horse around to face Captain Maddox.  Avery followed behind, nothing more than a teenage boy who kept glancing timorously behind him as if some malicious fiend was about to wreak havoc on them.

“Brothers, we must leave at once!” Korbin bellowed out.  “Avery and I are being pursued!  I don’t know how they found us, but they’re right on our heels.  We must move out!  Now!”  Captain Maddox wasted no time and rushed over to Korbin.

“Pursued by whom?” he demanded.  “And how far behind are they?”

“I’m not sure, Captain,” Korbin said breathlessly.  “Avery and I were spotted earlier this morning by a group of Carian soldiers. We were passing through the Montanisto swamps on our way here.  I had no idea they were camping nearby.  It’s the middle of bloody nowhere!  I thought I detected someone following our trail a couple of hours ago, but I couldn’t make anything of it.  Besides, it’s not likely the Carians would have chased us this far from their camp.  They’re too scared of the swamp.” 

“The Carians may fear the swamp, but the Misou don’t,” Aaron announced loudly.  His voice held a hint of worry.  The Wardens began shuffling nervously, and Maddox immediately addressed it.

“Ok, Brothers, if Korbin is right and it is the Misou who are following us, then we are already one step behind.  We need to get out of here now and pass into the Border.  Isaac, Aaron, ready the horses!” 

The Captain’s dire commands were instantly cut off by a close miscellany of Misou battle cries that rang out over the silent wetlands.  Not wanting to draw attention to their camp, Isaac quickly ran over and doused their fire with a bucket of lagoon water.  The illumination of their small camp quickly dwindled into the surrounding night.  Korbin and Avery urgently dismounted their horses, and Korbin spoke something into his horse’s ear.  Liam watched as the beast fled off into the darkness with Avery’s mount following it.  While Wardens possessed the gift to slightly alter their appearances, beasts could not.  Korbin was telling the horses to flee momentarily since it would look suspicious for their stalkers to see seven shielded mounts hunkering around a makeshift camp with no riders present.  

All the Wardens huddled close to Captain Maddox waiting for his instructions.  Seven gleaming Cerendovan scimitars flashed in the moonlight as they were drawn from leather baldrics by skilled and sinewy hands.  Sounds of the approaching horsemen moved in closer.

“Captain, do we ride?” Isaac asked tensely.  Another battle cry resounded into the clear night, this time louder in their ears.

“We don’t have time,” Maddox said in a hushed voice, his eyes darting nervously around the enclosed area.  “I fear they’ve already arrived.”

“The Misou are native warriors of this land.  And brutal fighters!” Avery’s young voice trilled above the others.  “Do we have permission to engage in combat if sighted?”

“No!” All six of the older Wardens chanted in unison.  Maddox quickly grabbed Avery by the hood of his cloak and yanked him in close till he cowered under the Captain’s intense glare.

“Pursue peace in
all
aspects of life, Brother Morris.  This you must learn, and now is as good a time as any other.”  He released his tight hold on Avery and shoved him back into the circle of Wardens.  “We do not attack the Commoners,” he reiterated.  “They haven’t the abilities we do to defend ourselves.  If it comes to battle, try and disarm them. Do not inflict undue injury. Call upon the Guardians if necessary, for it is their sole purpose to protect us.  I’ve made myself clear, Brothers.  Now fade into the brush and remain there unseen.  Maybe it’s just a cult of bandits who will pass right by us.  What ever you do, do not strike first.”

“What if the Misou have Manchineel Dust in their possession?” Avery spoke the concern none of them wanted to voice.  All of the other Wardens knew the answer to that question, including Maddox, but none offered to answer.

“Well, let’s just hope they don’t,” the Captain growled back angrily.  “Now hide!” 

With that, the seven Wardens immediately retreated into the minimal shade of the red cypress trees encircling the algae covered lagoon.  Then, with a manipulation of light and shadow that only Wardens can manifest, all the men quickly dimmed their humanly forms until nothing but an inconspicuous glow remained. 

Liam looked around him, waiting nervously.  He could see the outlines of his hiding comrades underneath the cluster of cypress trees.  Nothing human in the small isolated camp moved or sounded, not even the inhale of a breath or the blink of an eye.  Laughing tree frogs were the only thing that could be heard as they croaked their strange sounds then hopped from the lagoon’s lily pads to the cypress trees causing the branches to sway questionably in the night.  Unrelenting mosquitos living off of the festering swamp water buzzed around Liam’s still form as they landed on his bare arms and neck.  They bit open his skin and sucked on his blood, but the Warden refused to swat them away as he remained still and hidden.

He had his scimitar out defensively, hoping deep down that he wouldn’t have to use it.  Liam had never had a violent altercation with a Commoner before, and as Aaron had so delicately reminded him earlier that day, they weren’t suppose to get involved with them at all.  Wardens were required to pursue peace at all time, in their own home and abroad, not purposely initiate conflict.

Liam’s mind suddenly trickled back to the brief conversation he’d overheard between Spencer and one of his soldiers upon waking that morning.  Through the seams of Zora’s tent, Liam heard the Carian soldier insist he’d come across a pair of wanderers matching Korbin and Avery’s description.  They had fled, the man told Spencer, when they tried to intercept them, and they weren’t able to determine in what direction they had gone.  Liam had disregarded the terse exchange between the Commoner soldiers as insignificant, deciding instead to focus his energy into the time he could spend with Zora, not on investigating whether the now hunted strangers were, in fact, his fellow Wardens.

Liam’s muse was interrupted by a canorous battle call as the group of pursuers burst through the clearing and into the isolated lagoon area.  The leader of the group was shielded head to toe in pristine chainmail with a perfectly shaped iron breastplate protecting his torso.  It was engraved with the famous Carian emblem of a sunburst centered directly in the middle of his midsection.  He wore a conical helm with kitschy orange and yellow plumes attached to the top of it.  Two other men, armored identical to the first, followed closely behind.