Well of the Damned (27 page)

The gods
favor me.

She
limped over to where the water trickled from a jutting rock to drip
onto the stone below it. She let it pool into her cupped hand —
cool, clear water. Could this be water from the famed Well of the
Enlightened? She hadn’t seen any clean water up there. Could
the mud pit have been an illusion created by whatever magical force
was protecting the wellspring? The landslide must have caused the
wellspring to leak. Now here was the water for the taking.

She
uncorked the skin once again and held its open mouth under the
trickle of water. Although it took a while, it eventually filled the
skin. She lifted it to her lips for a drink.

An
uneasy feeling stopped her. If this water was from the wellspring,
perhaps the safer play would be to test it on someone else before
drinking it herself. She corked the skin tightly and tucked it into
her knapsack. She wasn’t far from the Flint River. She would
drink her fill then.

Something
dark near the dead horse caught her eye, and she made her way across
the rocks towards it. She used her foot to push the rocks away. It
was the second waterskin. The gods favored her indeed. Gingerly, she
reached down and picked it up. It had been battered, but it still
held a few drops. She drained what was left of it, and filled it from
the trickle of water on the mountainside. Two skins of the magical
water would surely weigh her down with coins and lift her up with
admiration and praise from those who would drink it.

Without
wasting another moment, Cirang slung the strap of the pack over her
shoulder and limped as quickly as she could to the south and west,
towards Ambryce.

Chapter 30

They
mounted up and followed the hoof prints left behind by Cirang, riding
at as quick a pace as they dared, not wanting to overwork the horses
without knowing what lay ahead. It took roughly two hours before they
could make out a trail winding up the side of the mountain, and after
another couple hours of uphill riding, they came to a fork in the
trail.

“Look
at this,” Vandra said, pointing at the ground in front of her.
“Her tracks go up and back down. Wonder how far up she went.
This trail leads south to the Flint River. That one goes up.”

Gavin
looked up, desperately wanting to see for himself whether the
wellspring was real, but his main concern was capturing Cirang.
“Let’s keep going then. To the river.”

They
followed the trail as it sloped back downward, but not far beyond the
fork, it ended abruptly. At the bottom of the slope lay a pile of
rocks, uprooted trees and earth. Landslide. Gavin’s first
thought was for Cirang’s health or, hopefully, the lack of it.

“What
about Cirang?” Daia asked. “Is she dead?”

Gavin
connected with Daia’s orange conduit and searched for Cirang in
the forest to the south. He saw her making her way on foot down the
river, pausing now and then for a moment, but he had to give her
credit for perseverance. “She’s alive,” he said,
releasing the magic. “Looks as if she might be injured. She’s
walking down the river towards Ambryce.”

“Walking?”
Vandra asked with a scowl. “You mean on horseback.”

He
shook his head sadly. “I didn’t see a horse’s haze
with her. I’m sorry.”

Her
expression was grim as she looked down at the rubble below. “Argo...”
Water dripped down her face.

“I’m
sorry, Vandra,” Daia said. “He was a fine mount and a
loyal friend.”

“No.
He could still be alive. King Gavin could heal him.”

Gavin
didn’t see a horse haze, however weak, in the rubble below.
“Sorry, Vandra. Argo didn’t make it.” He reached
forward to brush Golam’s gray mane and pat his neck. Had Cirang
stolen Golam... No. He couldn’t bear to think of it.

Calinor
said, “We should be able to catch up to her afore she reaches
Ambryce.”

She
had several hours’ lead on them, but that was before she’d
lost her mount. “Maybe,” Gavin said. “I’m not
worried. She’ll try to hide somewhere, or just get supplies and
a horse and leave. Even in Ambryce, I can find her haze among all the
citizens.” He looked back up the mountain, longing to see the
wellspring. “Look through the rubble for anything she might’ve
lost in the landslide. Hopefully the journal.”

“You’re
not going up there, are you?” Calinor asked.

“I
want to see what she found.”

“We
should leave it be,” Daia said quietly. “King Arek warned
you to stay away for good reason.”

Gavin
knew she was just doing her job of guarding his life, but his mind
was made up. “I’m going up.”

“Maybe
we should bring Vandra with us,” Daia suggested. “In case
we have to fight... something.”

Gavin
gave her an impatient look. “Cirang dealt with whatever’s
up there all by herself, and she only has a dagger. We’ll be
fine.” In reality, he felt such a strong compulsion to see the
wellspring, no argument would have swayed him from this journey. He
recognized his own obstinance for what it was, but even that
realization didn’t give him pause. He had to see it.

They
started ascending the mountain with Daia leading the way. She refused
to let him go ahead, in case the trail wasn’t stable. He didn’t
bother protesting. She was at least as stubborn as he was, and they’d
spend valuable time arguing. The trail was fairly steep and more
slippery than he hoped it’d be. When the horses kicked stones
loose, Gavin grew more nervous. Two landslides on the same mountain
in the same day weren’t beyond the realm of possibility. He
noticed an eagle-shaped rock, perched high atop the mountain as
though it were about to swoop down upon those who dared to approach
its nest.

As he rode, leaning forward over
Golam’s thick neck, he wondered how the guardians would appear
to them. Maybe the eagle rock above him would become a real raptor,
twice the height of a man with talons that could crush his skull with
hardly an effort.

He
shuddered and shook the thought away. Anxiety, slithering up his
spine, warned him to turn back, but curiosity was the greater force
within him.

“Gavin,”
Daia said, wariness in her voice, “the hairs on my neck
bristle. Rethink your priorities here. Capturing Cirang is the more
important goal.”

Gavin
felt the warning in the pit of his stomach too, but Aldras Gar was
silent. If there was danger, it would tell him. “If you want to
turn back,” he said, “you’re welcome to.” He
knew she wouldn’t; she took her job as his protector seriously.

“I
won’t let you go without me,” she said. “I’m
just suggesting you reconsider.”

“Cirang
didn’t turn back.”

“Not
before this point,” Daia said, “but she did turn back. We
just don’t know why or when.”

“Then
let’s stop yammering and find out,” Gavin said.

They
reached the top without incident. “It’s not raining
here,” Gavin said. He looked out at the sky over Thendylath,
gray clouds as far as he could see. Here, the clouds broke up, and a
clear sky graced lands to the east, towards the neighboring country
of Osgan. The air was cool without being chilly, with a sweet lemony
scent. The top of the mountain was flat and green with tall grass and
immense, strong trees. Bees and other insects gorged themselves on
the succulent nectar of the yellow daisy-like wildflowers that
covered the ground ahead and to the left.

To
the right, a glassy pool of brilliant blue-green water glistened in
the sunlight. He’d never seen water so beautiful nor so
alluring. The rocks on the western edge formed a wall, keeping the
wellspring water from spilling down the mountainside. The eagle rock
stood majestically with its stony wings half open, leaning out over
the valley below.

“This
is the wellspring?” Daia asked. “Hell’s bones! What
happened to it?”

Gavin
dismounted and let go of the reins so Golam could graze on the grass
while he approached the edge of the spring. “What do you mean?
It’s magnificent.” He started towards the water’s
edge.

Her
firm hand grasped his arm. “What are you doing? Don’t go
near it.”

“It’s
awright,” he said, prying her fingers off. “It’s
just water.”

“Water?”
she asked. “Are you mad? It’s a black, stinking mud pit.
Some kind of magic must be luring you to it. Gavin, listen. It’s
just a mud pit. Let’s go. There’s no wellspring here.”

Rings
formed in the center of the spring, widening outward, followed by
bubbles.

“Something’s
happening,” Gavin said.

A
figure rose slowly from the water, spinning so fast he couldn’t
make out whether it was even human.

“Look
out!” Daia ducked, covering her head with one hand and pulling
her sword from its scabbard with the other. “Damn, I’ve
never seen bats this big.”

“Bats?
What bats?”

“By
Yrys!” Daia shouted. She was crouched down, slicing with her
sword at the air. “Let’s get out of here. Gavin, come
on.”

Gavin
couldn’t move. He was mesmerized by the sight of the figure,
clear like glass, rising up out of the water. It was spinning as it
rose. When it broke the water, its spinning slowed. He saw not one
face, but two. When it stopped, it separated into two distinct,
ghostly Elyle.

Like
others of their kind, they had triangular ears high atop their heads
and round eyes, and stood tall with long legs and arms, but these two
had no fur. They looked to be made of water. He briefly wondered
whether they would speak to him as the Elyle of the mid-realm had, in
squeaks and whistles he heard as words in his mind. For a moment,
though, they regarded him in silence.

Behind
him, he could hear Daia grunting with the effort of fighting off
giant bats only she could see.

“Wayfarer,
you should not have brought a companion,” the two beings said
simultaneously. In his mind, he heard both a female voice and male,
their pitches harmonized, though his ears heard nothing at all. “She
is not permitted here.”

As Daia’s swipes came
faster, her grunts became shrieks. She was in the grip of a
full-blown terror. “Gavin! Come on!”

“Whatever
you’re doing to her, stop at once,” he said, gesturing to
his champion. “She’s here to protect me, and I won’t
send her away.”

“As
you wish,” the guardians said.

Daia
stopped shrieking and let the sword drop to her side. “What in
the seven realms?” she asked breathlessly. “Did that just
happen?”

“Why
did you do that?” he asked.

“We
protect this wellspring from those who would steal our essence,”
the guardians said.

“Because
they were attacking me. Didn’t you see them?” Daia asked.

“No,
they weren’t real,” he told her. “My thanks. How
did you know she’s afeared o’bats?”

“We
know what’s in everyone’s heart. We know what’s in
yours, too, Wayfarer.”

“What?
Who are you talking to?”

“The
guardians.” The fact that they had made no effort to drive him
away wasn’t lost on Gavin. Aldras Gar, too, was quiet. “You
don’t see them?”

“I
see a mud pit. That’s all.”

“Why
do you show yourselves to me and not to her?” he asked them.

“We
have always appeared to the Wayfarer.”

“The
woman who came afore me. Did she drink the water?”

“We
drove her from here with illusion before she reached the water,” the
guardians said.

“Tell
me about the water. Why do you protect it?”

“It
contains our essence. If one consumes the waters of this wellspring,
his khozhi balance is disrupted.”

“Disrupted
how?” Gavin asked.

“The
essence would be reversed.”

These
words stiffened Gavin’s spine. “Our people call it the
Well of the Enlightened.”

“Enlightenment
occurs when the soul reaches the end of its journey, and at that
moment, it departs the body and returns to the Is. No one who is
truly enlightened remains embodied. After consuming this water, the
kho-bent become zhi-bent, and the zhi-bent become—”

“Kho-bent,”
Gavin said.
Seven hells!
That must have been what Arek knew
that Crigoth Sevae did not.

“Exactly
so,” they said. “The zhi-bent have an awareness of
belonging to something greater than themselves. The kho-bent feel
completely separate and distinct, to the point they consider
themselves superior to others. However, the individuals in your realm
have a mixed khozhi that tends to be zhi-dominant. Drinking the water
reverses that balance. Consumers who are zhi-dominant become
kho-dominant, not entirely kho-bent.”

“How
did the water get like that?”

An
image appeared in Gavin’s mind of a white crystal in the dark
water.

“This
is the Nal Disi,” they said. “It lies deep within the
wellspring. Our combined essence is contained in the Nal Disi, but
the minerals in the water draw it out of the crystal. Now it floats
within the water, contained within each of the mineral’s minute
particles.”