Griffin's Destiny (23 page)

“You won’t need any training, Ashi,” Gran said. “Your lack of it will work to your advantage. The Nameless One won’t view you as a threat; in fact, he’ll dismiss you out of hand. This will allow you to get close enough to spring the trap we will prepare.”

“You wish my son to capture the Nameless One in the spirit box,” Amara stated, her voice sharp with fear.

“He can do it, Sister,” Gran insisted. “You are well aware of the strength of your son’s Talent.”

“Yes, I am.”

Ashinji looked in his mother’s eyes and caught a glimpse of the guilt that haunted her. He also saw reluctant consensus.

They all believe I’m the only one who can defeat this thing! They must be truly desperate!

“Tell me what I must do, then.” He continued to hold Jelena in his arms, rocking her as if she merely slept. His tears had ceased, but the pain still ripped at his heart.

Taya bent to pick up a small wooden casket that had tumbled to the floor. She held it out so Ashinji could see the intricate glyphs carved into the lid and sides.

“This is a spirit box,” Taya spoke quickly now. “It’s designed to capture and hold any type of non-corporeal being, but it’s meant to be a temporary receptacle only. Eventually, the entity within must be transferred to a permanent containment vessel. All that’s necessary for the capture is to get within a few paces of the spirit and speak the appropriate incantation.”

“Its true name,” Ashinji said.

“Yes. That’s the surest way of capturing the spirit, though there are other ways,” Taya replied. “We had prepared another incantation, but that one won’t be needed now.”

“Do you know where Sonoe, I mean, the Nameless One, has gone?” Ashinji stared at the box, and blinking in surprise, realized the glyphs were crawling along the wood like fantastically shaped insects.

“Not precisely, but you can track her by using your Talent,” Gran said.

“I think I may know,” Ashinji replied, still staring with near hypnotic fascination at the animated glyphs. “It’s common sense, really. Sonoe, the Nameless One, I mean, intends to subjugate first Alasiri, then the rest of the known world. In order to do that, he must kill everyone standing in his way. He’ll start with all of the surviving Onjaras.”

Including my daughter.

With some difficulty, Ashinji finally looked away from the box back to the three mages.

“He’ll return to Sendai first, in order to finish off the king,” he added, “but I suspect Sonoe’s already done that. If so, then he’ll head south to where the army lies and kill Prince Raidan and his sons.”

“Of course,” Taya murmured. “He’ll no doubt seek out the mages assisting the army with the defense of Tono. He needs the power of at least three other trained sorcerers in order to perform the Great Working that opens the Void. As great as his own strength is, he still can’t do it alone.”

“He’ll have to take their power by force. No sane mage would ever willingly assist in such an evil act,” Gran interjected.

“Ashi, what about Hatora?” Amara’s voice shook and her face, already pale in the semi-darkness, blanched even more.

“My daughter still lives. The connection I have with her is very strong, even over so great a distance. Either the Nameless One hasn’t found her yet, or he’s passed her by for now.”

“Then you must go, immediately!” Gran urged.

Ashinji shook his head. “No.”

“You must!” Taya snapped. “We have no time for…”

“I’m not doing anything else for you until you bring my wife back!”

Ashinji glared at the three women. They looked at each other, then back at him. Their combined energies pushed at him, but he refused to budge, not until he heard from their lips that they intended to resurrect Jelena.

“We will try,” Taya replied, but her voice held no promises.

“You must do more than try,” he insisted.

“Ashi, we…” Amara began, but Ashinji cut her off with a shout.

“
Bring my wife back! You promised!”

His whole body shook with fury.

“
You
demanded this sacrifice of us!
You
…insisted it was the only way to defeat our enemy! And now, my lover, my best friend, the mother of my child is…is
dead
…and
still
, the task isn’t done! You owe this to her! To both of us!”

Ashinji gazed into Jelena’s face, and marveled at how beautiful it still looked. A fresh flow of tears wet his cheeks. Tenderly, he lowered her head back to the altar’s surface. His hand brushed the hilt of the knife still protruding from her chest, and with a gasp of dismay, he jerked away, as if Jelena could still feel the pain of that cruel blade.

“Swear you’ll bring her back. Please,” he whispered.

Amara wept in silence behind shaking hands. Taya turned her face away and sighed. Gran came forward and touched Ashinji’s shoulder. He flinched, but did not pull away.

“Ashi, I swear.”

Ashinji looked into Gran’s eyes, and the calm determination he saw there cooled his anger. He knew the elder Kirian would keep her word.

After a few moments of silence, he rose to his feet and faced Taya. “I’m ready now,” he stated.

“Then I will send you back through the portal to Sendai,” the princess said. “When you pick up his trail, be very careful. The Nameless One is more dangerous than you can possibly imagine, and he will have absorbed all of Sonoe’s essence, including her magical abilities. They will only serve to enhance his already formidable skills. He will mimic her flawlessly, and so will be able to gain easy access to my husband and his council.” The princess pressed the spirit box into Ashinji’s hands. “When you get close enough, simply open the lid and speak his name. And now you must go!”

Ashinji tucked the box inside his jacket and knelt once more beside the altar stone. Fighting back still more tears, he leaned over and kissed Jelena’s cold lips. His eyes never left her face as he spoke. “I can’t imagine going on without you, love, but I suppose I must.” His voice caught and for an instant, he wished the stones beneath his knees would turn to sand and suck him down.

I would welcome death now, if it meant reunion with you!

He took a deep breath and rose to his feet. “Let’s go,” he said, and started for the door.

He didn’t look back as he followed the princess from the chamber. They hurried down the dark corridor toward the portal, Taya’s magelight swooping ahead of them. When they reached the base of the rubble slope, Taya sent the magelight up through the breach and set it to hovering. Together, they began to climb.

When Ashinji reached the place where the magelight bobbed, he paused and tried to feel the magic of the portal.

Yes, there it is, and there’s the trigger!

He felt a rush of excitement. “Princess, I think I can activate the portal myself,” he declared.

“You can feel the trigger?” Taya sounded a little dubious.

Ashinji nodded. “I just form a picture in my mind of the place I want to go and…”

“It’s not quite that simple, young Sakehera,” Taya snapped. “If you don’t have a perfect mental picture of the locator glyph, you could end up materializing inside of solid stone!”

They climbed the remainder of the way in silence. At the top of the slope, Ashinji paused to catch his breath, then demanded, “Show me the glyph.” An image formed before his mind’s eye like ink-strokes on paper. He nodded sharply. “Got it.”

“Everything depends on you now.” Taya said. “Go quickly, and may the One keep you safe.”

“Keep your promise to me, Princess,” Ashinji replied.

Before he reached with his mind to trigger the portal, Ashinji called out, “Princess Taya, you haven’t told me the name of the spirit!”

“Shiura Onjara.” Taya’s brow creased as if the appellation left a bitter residue in her mouth.

“If we all survive this, I’ll meet you back in Sendai.” Ashinji triggered the portal and darkness engulfed him.

***

“Poor child.” Amara sat on the altar, stroking Jelena’s cold cheek. “The day my son first brought you to me, I knew you would change all our lives. I just didn’t know how.” She dabbed her eyes with the hem of her sleeve. “I will carry the burden of this day to my grave,” she sighed.

“Jelena understood the necessity of what we all had to do, Amara.” Gran squeezed her friend’s shoulder. “She possessed remarkable courage, and so does your son. He won’t fail us, just as Jelena did not.”

“How will we do what we promised, Chiana?” Amara continued to stroke her daughter-in-law’s cheek. “We haven’t the strength left for another major Working. A resurrection must be attempted within the first hour of death. Any later, and the risk of failure is all but certain. By the time our strength is restored, it will be too late.”

“There is a way,” Gran replied softly. “I can give up my life energy to complete the spell.”

Amara stared at her friend. “Chiana…you would do this for my son and daughter-in-law?”

“My life, my
true
life, ended when I destroyed everything I loved in a mad quest for power. Exchanging my life for hers,” Gran continued, glancing at Jelena then back at Amara, “won’t bring my husband and children back, I know, but perhaps, just perhaps, the One will show mercy and reunite me with them on the other side.”

Amara looked away, too overcome to speak.

“You and Taya will need to act without delay. Jelena’s body is gravely injured. She’s lost a great deal of blood, and could die again if she’s not attended to properly.”

“Yes. I had thought of that,” Amara said. “We should first draw out the knife and bind the wound.” She looked around, then slid off the altar and strode across the chamber to gather the remnants of Sonoe’s clothing. “These should do nicely for bandages,” she said dryly.

Taya returned to find them wrapping strips of cloth around Jelena’s chest. “What are you doing?” she asked.

“Preparing Jelena for resurrection,” Gran replied.

“Sister, we haven’t the strength…”

Gran raised her hand and Taya fell silent. “I’m giving Jelena my life force,” the elder Kirian said.

If Taya felt shock, dismay, or any emotion at all, she gave no sign. Stone-faced, she stood with arms folded, watching as Gran and Amara finished their task.

“These rags are poor bandages, but they’ll have to do,” Gran muttered.

“I’m no doctor,” Taya said, “but I haven’t spent forty years married to one without learning a thing or two. She’s lost too much blood to live. Your sacrifice will be for naught.”

You grieve for her, Amara. I grieve as well, though I may not show it. You and I are made differently that way.

Yes, I know…You didn’t love her as I learned to, but I saw how you came to respect her. Chiana is…

I’m willing…more than willing, to do this.

“I think Jelena will fight to live,” Gran said aloud. “Her love for her husband and child will give her the strength.” She sighed and wiped her bloodied hands on the tops of her breeches. “Once this is done, just go. Don’t stop to see to my body.” Her pale eyes wandered around the chamber before settling on Taya’s face. “This will be a far better resting place for me than I deserve.”

She rose to her feet and said, “Sisters, the Society must never fall into such a state again. The one who can bring us back to our full power has just left to perform the task, on his own, that the three of us could not. If he succeeds, he is the future of the Society.” She looked at Amara.

“Traditions must at times give way to necessity. Amara, send your son to the Kan Onji. His life is wasted as a mere soldier. He needs the proper training so he can fulfill his true destiny.”

Amara nodded, tears once again filling her eyes.

“You were our leader once, Chiana,” Taya said quietly. “I’ve never doubted your wisdom or insight. If you say young Sakehera is the future of the Society, then so be it. I’ll supervise his training myself…if he succeeds.”

“He will.” Gran replied. “And now, I must fulfill my promise. Help me, please.”

The three mages linked hands and Gran completed the connection by taking up Jelena’s.

They began to chant.

Ashinji stumbled as he landed on the hard packed earth of the portal chamber. The lamps they had left behind, though still burning, flickered close to exhaustion. Snatching one up, he bounded to the door and tried to throw it open. It wouldn’t budge. He stared at the door in confusion for a few tense heartbeats until he remembered that Taya had secured it with a locking spell. He reached out with his mind. The energy of the spell had a definite structure; if he could study it long enough, he would be able figure out how to unravel it. He did not have that kind of time. He simply cut through the spell, flung open the door, and ran up the corridor toward the stairs.

It did not occur to him to wonder at the ease with which he destroyed the spell; his mind remained focused on reaching his daughter. He would have time enough for exploring the limits of his newly unbound Talent only if he could stop the thing that now wore Sonoe’s body.
If
he could find it in time.
If
he could stop it from killing Prince Raidan
If
he could prevent it from opening the Void…