Death Weavers (12 page)

“So teach me.”

“Echomancers are echoes with weaving powers,” Tessa said. “Your shaping power doesn't usually cross with you into the echolands. Echomancers are the exceptions. The imprint told me the echomancer at Gamat Rue is named Nandavi.”

“You needed to find Nandavi?”

“No, I went to find an echo named Ragio that Nandavi holds prisoner.”

“You went to the prison?” Cole asked.

“Unless somebody stopped me,” Tessa said. “That was my plan.”

“How were you going to talk to an echo imprisoned in the echolands?” Cole asked.

“I wasn't sure,” Tessa said. “Not exactly. People stay away from Gamat Rue. Not much is known about it. I'm no good at seeing the echolands. But Leo was coming with me, and he's a talented weaver. I hoped he would help me contact Ragio.”

“What about Nandavi?”

“Nandavi.” Tessa shivered. “I didn't want to meet her. I had no idea how much she could bother us from the echolands. But I'm looking for my shaping power, and when I heard about Ragio, I knew I needed to find him. I felt the tug, so I went.”

“Your power told you to go?” Cole said.

“My power doesn't usually explain much,” Tessa said. “I get a feeling to say something or do something without knowing what will happen. But I was looking for the rest of my power, and it felt right to come to the cave, and then finding Ragio felt important.”

“What did you learn about Ragio?” Cole asked.

“He was a shapecrafter spying for the Grand Shaper of Necronum,” Tessa said. “He was caught and killed. The imprint I met here said Ragio was involved with those who were trying to gather and control my power. Ragio's echo ended up at Gamat Rue.”

“You could be at Gamat Rue too,” Cole said. “That might be where the trouble happened.”

“Maybe,” Tessa said. “If so, be really careful. Honor might have fallen into the same trap. Don't be the third.”

Cole hesitated before asking his next question. “Who is the Grand Shaper of Necronum?”

“Really? You don't even know that?”

Cole winced. “I've only been here a few days. Part of that time has been on the run.”

“Prescia Demorri,” Tessa said. “My aunt. Mother's big sister. They were never very close. I met her at the castle when I was younger. I haven't seen her since then. She's been in hiding.”

Tessa signaled Honor, who came toward them. The imprint looked perfectly like her.

“Hello, Cole,” she said.

“Hi, Honor.”

Honor reached a hand out to Cole. His hand passed through hers.

“I told him,” Tessa said.

“That's hopefully for the best,” Honor said. She turned to Cole. “Costa?”

“She's fine,” Cole said. “We found her and restored her power.”

“That's a relief. I gather events have gone poorly here?”

“Your star is up,” Cole said, not wanting to explain why they had recently come down. “Tessa's too. Your mom told me you were in extreme danger.”

“You spoke with her?” Honor asked.

“Not too long ago,” Cole said. “I took the monorail from Zeropolis to Junction.”

“Mira is with you now?” Honor asked.

“Yes,” Cole said.

“Don't let her come after us,” Honor said. “She is no warrior, and her powers are irrelevant here. I had Desmond and Oster with me. I knew what you know. If I failed, something is really wrong. Who knows what you're up against? Send help, surely, but not Mira. We can't risk losing her. She could do more good by rallying others to help us.”

That made sense to Cole. “I'll try to convince her. It isn't always easy.”

“I know,” Honor said. “I'm sorry this responsibility has fallen to you. I should have found Tessa.”

“Don't apologize,” Cole said. “We don't even know what happened yet.”

“I imagine you are in a hurry,” Honor said.

“Actually, yeah,” Cole said. “You don't know the way out, do you?”

“I was in a hurry too,” Honor said. “The common wisdom has it that you just need to keep going uphill.”

“I've heard the same,” Cole said. He stared at Honor and Tessa. They looked so real! “Any last requests?”

“Tell Mira I love her,” Tessa said. “Tell her to be careful.”

“Watch out for echoes,” Honor said. “There is a new force at play in the echolands.”

“Nazeem,” Cole said.

“He has a name?” Honor asked.

“Seems like he has just revealed himself lately,” Cole said. “I'll try to be careful.”

“Tell Mira I order her not to come for us personally,” Honor said. “And that I care for her.”

“I'll pass it along,” Cole said.

“Thank you, Cole,” Tessa said.

“I'll do my best,” he replied.

Turning away from them, he hurried back the way he had come. It wouldn't be long before they forgot him. Cole wondered if he would see their faces again.

9

T
wilight had fallen by the time Cole exited the Cave of Memory. He assumed it was evening but supposed it could be morning. It was hard to be sure how long he had wandered the caverns.

Finding the entrance had been no trouble. He followed upward slopes for less than an hour before he met once again with the imprint of the woman who waited near the opening.

As Cole walked out, he had looked back and seen himself standing near the woman. His imprint had waved. Cole waved as well, aware that his duplicate wouldn't remember the gesture.

When Cole had hesitated to round the bend that would conceal his imprint from sight, his imprint called out, “Go save everybody. I've got this!”

Cole had turned and exited, happy to know he could be so brave about an eternity stuck in a cave. Well, at least he could
act
brave about it.

Cole found Dalton, Jace, Mira, and Joe waiting with Hunter not too far beyond the mouth of the cave, their horses tied up nearby. Cole saw them before they looked his way.

“Dalton!” Cole called. “Jace! You made it!” He jogged over to them.

Jace snorted derisively. “If you made it, of course we did.”

“Slower than me,” Cole observed.

“Our road from the crossroads took us the wrong direction,” Jace said.

“And a guy tried to swindle us when we bought horses,” Dalton said. “One of them was basically lame.”

“Nothing I couldn't handle,” Jace quickly clarified.

“Do you think you showed the guy your freemark enough?” Dalton asked.

Jace shoved him playfully. “At least I wasn't apologizing.”

The dynamic between Jace and Dalton seemed friendlier than Cole had seen it. In times past, Dalton's joke would have made Jace genuinely angry. Perhaps the time alone together had been good for them.

“Did you find Tessa?” Mira asked.

“Would I have come out if I hadn't?” Cole replied.

“Maybe if you were hungry,” Hunter said. “You didn't bring food. We had some. I called out once I noticed, but you didn't hear.”

Cole did feel hungry. Just the mention of food made the void in his belly seem to double in size. But he put on a brave face. “I'm fine. I ate some bats.”

“Whatever,” Dalton said.

“And a few tarantulas,” Cole added. “It's hard to eat something that keeps biting you.”

“Gross,” Mira said. “So . . . Tessa?”

“And Honor,” Cole said. “Can we talk?” He looked to Hunter. “Are there echoes around?”

Hunter nodded at the sky. “Shiver Moon tonight.” Cole followed his gaze to a smallish moon glowing a crystalline blue. He had seen it before. Mira had told him the name once. It wasn't in the sky most nights. “That means if you don't see echoes, they aren't around.”

“A Shiver Moon makes echoes visible?” Cole asked.

“You can't miss them,” Hunter said. “Many in Necronum stay indoors when the Shiver Moon rises.”

“Does it let them hurt you?” Jace asked, not quite succeeding at nonchalance.

“No more than usual,” Hunter said. “Many people just don't want to interact with echoes. Not without reason. Some mess with your head. Some might haunt you. Lots of people follow superstitions about how to keep echoes away.”

“What do they do?” Jace asked casually.

“It varies by community,” Hunter said. “Some salt doorways. Others use wind chimes. I've seen offerings like bread or cheese left in yards overnight. Some people live beside or above running water. Others hang signs or post symbols. All of those people would hide indoors during a Shiver Moon.”

“Does any of that stuff work?” Jace asked.

“I'm not sure,” Hunter said. “I've noticed echoes don't seem to like running water. If it was me, I'd hire a skilled weaver to work protections around my home.”

“Will we see echoes tonight?” Dalton asked, eyeing the woods.

“Probably not too many roaming the wilderness,” Hunter said. “I expect we'll see plenty when we get near Rincomere.”

“We're heading back to town?” Cole asked.

Hunter glanced around. “Unless you want to wander blindly through the forest. Rincomere has the nearest decent crossroads.”

“We already have rooms booked,” Joe said.

“Where are we going?” Mira asked Cole. “What did Tessa tell you?”

“Honor and Tessa both send their love and say hello. They don't want you coming to rescue them.”

“Whatever,” Mira said. “Where?”

“When Tessa left the Cave of Memory, her next stop was a place called Gamat Rue.”

“The old prison?” Hunter asked.

“You make that sound bad,” Jace said.

“It has a terrible reputation,” Hunter said. “Some places in Necronum are haunted by bad echoes. Gamat Rue is supposed to be one of the worst. Why would Tessa go there?”

Cole explained about Tessa risking interaction with the echomancer Nandavi in hopes of finding Ragio and learning where to go to fully recover her power.

“You learned more than I knew about Gamat Rue,” Hunter said. “I never heard the name Nandavi.”

“Tessa felt her power urging her to go there,” Cole said.

“She has blind faith in her intuition,” Mira said. “Her impulses tend to set things in motion. Not always good things.”

“Tessa told me her power has been coming back over the past few years,” Cole said. “It's been helping her avoid trouble.”

“Trouble obviously caught up to her,” Jace said.

“Our job will be to figure out where,” Mira added.

“We should get back to Rincomere,” Joe said, starting toward the horses. “We'll already be riding in darkness.”

“The Shiver Moon will light the way,” Hunter assured them.

“And plenty of other things,” Jace grumbled unhappily.

*  *  *

They rode slowly by the icy moonlight—single file, Joe in the front, Hunter at the rear. Cole swept the wilderness with his gaze but didn't see any echoes until they neared the village.

In a grove of trees near an outlying farm, Cole noticed a silver-white flicker. Joe reined in his horse to take a look, stopping the other five riders. The figure emerged from the woods, walking toward them. He was an older man, softly glowing a translucent silver.

Nervous tingles ran down Cole's spine as he watched the echo. The somber old guy could have wandered straight out of a ghost story. Cole wondered if this had once been his farm. Maybe he was just roaming.

Dalton looked back at Cole.
Freaky,
he mouthed.

I know,
Cole mouthed back.

Dalton pantomimed taking a picture.

Cole decided it was a good wish. How cool would it be to have photographic proof of an afterlife?

“Ride on,” Hunter instructed. “Think of it like passing an ordinary person. If you ignore them, they'll generally ignore you.”