Soldier Scarred Page 4

  “How much farther do you think we need to go?” she asked.

  “I don’t know. The historian wasn’t completely clear on where we needed to take Tresten.”

  “And you’re certain the Conclave is here?” Senda asked, frowning as she surveyed the landscape.

  “Even more than ever,” Urik said. When Endric studied him, Urik shrugged. “With this much teralin, it could only be the Conclave. There is incredible power to the metal, so I’m not surprised that they would chose a place like this to consider their home.”

  “If Novan was so willing to share with you the location, why wasn’t he willing to accompany us?” Senda asked.

  “I’ve learned not to question the historian,” Endric said.

  Senda glanced over at Urik. “You know him. You’ve spent time with him. Would there be a reason he wouldn’t have come with us?”

  Urik shook his head. “I know of Novan, but I never had the honor to claim that I knew him, not as so many others did. Even when I served the guild, I never was able to claim personal knowledge of him.”

  “The historian wouldn’t lead us astray, Senda. We have to trust that he would have told us correctly.”

  Senda frowned, saving the deepest part of her disdain for Endric.

  They continued inland, following a series of rock formations that Novan had directed them to take, though there wasn’t a clear path or other landmarks to follow. The farther inland they went, the bleaker everything looked. At least along the shore, there was a hope of the sea and the life Endric knew was there, but now that the ocean was no longer visible, there wasn’t even that. He agreed with Senda. It was an odd location for the Conclave to locate themselves. What was there here for them, other than solitude?

  Unless solitude was what they wanted.

  Hours passed, and they still had not seen any sign of buildings. Novan had claimed there would be a series of buildings that would be set into the landscape that would signal where they needed to go, but they’d seen no sign of that. There was nothing.

  As the day stretched on, Endric realized they had a different concern. It wasn’t so much that he was straining against the weight of carrying Tresten—though he was—but he began to worry that they wouldn’t find any source of water. They hadn’t brought any supplies with them off the dinghy. The captain had sent them with food and a cask of water, but none of them had thought to bring it when they started inland.

  Near dark, Senda called for them to halt.

  They set Tresten down. Urik remained near him while Endric and Senda huddled off to the side. She eyed Urik carefully. There was no wood for a fire, nothing other than the rock and the warmth it radiated. Without it, Endric suspected a chill wind would have settled over them.

  “What do you intend to do if this takes more than another day?” Senda asked. “You heard what the captain said.”

  Endric nodded. “There hasn’t been any sign of storms.”

  “Yet.”

  He sighed. “Not yet. You could have remained by the dinghy. You didn’t need to do this.”

  “Didn’t I? If I hadn’t come with you, who would ensure that you returned to the Denraen? Who would ensure that nothing would happen to you?”

  “Nothing will happen to me,” Endric said.

  “You remain far too trusting of Urik.”

  “And I said the same to my father before Urik abducted me.”

  “And your father recognized that you were right. Why are you the one now arguing on behalf of Urik?”

  “Because I’ve spent time with him. I have seen the change within him, much like you once saw the change within me.”

  Senda stared at him for a moment before leaning back, resting her head on the rock. She stared up at the sky, remaining silent. Endric decided that it was best not to argue with her anymore. No good would come of it.

  The distance between them surprised him. He had felt closer to her when he had been in the Antrilii lands. At least then, he had the memory of the woman he loved but had left behind. Had they both changed so much?

  He made his way to Urik. “I don’t know how much time we should allow ourselves to take,” Endric said. “If we’re here too long, we won’t be able to make it back to the ship.”

  “I understand your concern, but the Conclave…”

  “If we can’t find the Conclave, we’ll have to return another time.”

  “And what would happen to Tresten?” Urik asked.

  Endric shrugged. “I don’t know what would happen to Tresten. It’s possible that he’s truly dead, despite what Novan might think. I don’t know what the Conclave would be able to do to help restore the dying Mage anyway that they wouldn’t be able to do in Vasha.”

  “It’s this place,” Urik said.

  “Why this place? Why do you believe that there’s anything about the land that would help him?”

  “You can feel the teralin as well as I can, Endric. That’s what it is. With as much teralin as there is around us, there could be nothing but power here. If there’s any way to restore Tresten, it would be here. Even Vasha wouldn’t be able to help him nearly as much as this place.”

  “At least in Vasha, there would be other Magi to help. When we’re here, there’s no one.”

  “There’s you.”

  “And what is that supposed to mean?”

  “Only that you’re Antrilii. I’ve seen that the Antrilii have… abilities… that are otherwise unexplainable. If anyone would be able to help Tresten outside of Vasha, it would be you.”

  Endric stared at Urik. He didn’t fully understand the nature of his Antrilii connection, or what it meant, but he didn’t want Urik thinking that he had something rivaling Magi abilities. That wasn’t quite what the Antrilii possessed. They were able to see the groeliin, and they were able to use that power to help them be stronger—and faster. His Antrilii lineage was nothing more than that.

  “As I said, I think we can only give it another day or so.”

  Urik watched him, and then shrugged. “If that’s what you think, I will go along with it.”

  Endric waited for him to say something more, but he didn’t. He moved away from Senda, and away from Urik and Tresten. He took a seat and then lay down, looking up at the sky. Stars flickered overhead, and the moon was a thick crescent, sending silvery light across the bleak stone, making it almost seem to glow.

  “What was that about?” Senda asked.

  Endric hadn’t noticed her approach. She moved silently—possibly more silently than she had before. It had been a long time since he had sparred with her, and he imagined that her skill had increased since then.

  “What was what?”

  “That.” She motioned to Urik. “Your conversation. What does he mean that the Antrilii have abilities?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Is that how it’s going to remain between us?”

  Endric breathed out heavily. “How do you want it to be, Senda?”

  “I’d like for you to talk to me. Is that so much to ask?”

  “I’ve tried talking to you. I’ve tried telling you about my experiences with the Antrilii, but there are certain things that I’m not at liberty to share.”

  “You think they are things the Raen of the Denraen shouldn’t know? Or is it that you think they are things someone you supposedly cared about shouldn’t know?”

  The hurt in her voice let Endric know which of those was worse for her.

  “There are secrets the Antrilii have kept for centuries that aren’t mine to share.”

  “What happens if the secrets of the Antrilii come into conflict with the needs of the Denraen?” she asked. “What happens if what you refuse to share becomes critical for others?”

  “I’ll do what is necessary. For now, it’s not. My father knows the same.”

  Her nose wrinkled as she frowned, and Endric recognized how that troubled her. For Senda, it was probably as much about the fact that she didn’t know, and the simple fact that there were secret
s kept from her, as anything he might have said.

  “I miss the Endric I knew before,” Senda said softly.

  “And I miss you.”

  He stared at her in the moonlight, longing to reach over and take her hand, but he didn’t dare do it. The look in her eye told him that she would not appreciate that contact. He no longer knew if she ever would again. Maybe their time had passed, an opportunity missed by everything that pulled upon them. It saddened Endric if so.

  He laid back once more and looked up at the sky, wishing that the gods would grant him a measure of peace, but he wondered if they ever would.

  5

  Daylight came with a haze hanging over the sky, thick bands of clouds hovering in the air, and the distant rumble of thunder. Endric awoke slowly, feeling refreshed and more alert than he had in quite some time. He sat up, rubbing sleep from his eyes, and found Senda still sleeping.

  When he stood, he realized that Urik was gone.

  Not only Urik, but Tresten.

  He swore under his breath and shook Senda awake. She sat up with a start and blinked, sucking in a sharp breath. “How long was I asleep?” she asked.

  “I don’t know. It’s hard to tell what time it is because of the clouds.”

  Thunder punctuated his words and Senda glanced up, her brow furrowing. “Rain.”

  Endric nodded. “I think it’s coming.”

  “Where’s Urik?” she asked.

  “I don’t know, but wherever he is, he’s taken Tresten with him.”

  She jerked her head to look at him. “Tresten? Why would he have wandered off with a dead Mage?”

  Endric resisted the urge to argue and tell her that Tresten might not be dead. “The only thing I can think of is that he believes that having Tresten with him will grant him access to the Conclave. He wants that more than he wants anything else.”

  “And you didn’t think that we should keep watch?”

  “I didn’t intend to fall asleep when I did.” He remembered staring at the sky, but then there was nothing else. He didn’t recall falling asleep, and from the look on Senda’s face, he suspected she didn’t either.

  “Do you think he slipped something to us?” she asked.

  “How? We haven’t eaten or drank anything since leaving the ship.”

  “With him, I don’t know how. You said that he has incredible knowledge.”

  “He was with the guild, so he has the same knowledge the historians have, at least as far as that goes. I don’t know that would give him some way of poisoning us without us knowing.” Besides, Endric didn’t feel poisoned. He felt well rested, and he felt better than he had in many days.

  “Where would he have gone?”

  Endric stared around him. There was nothing but the desolate landscape, that of the dark rock stretching in all directions. How had Urik managed to get away from them—unless he had been traveling since they fell asleep.

  There was another possibility, but that would mean that Tresten had somehow recovered. Endric didn’t think that likely—not without Tresten saying something to him.

  “There’s nothing here,” he said.

  “What do you want to do?”

  Endric breathed out heavily. What did he want to do? He had come to bring Tresten back to the Conclave, thinking that if nothing else, he had to pay his respects in that way, but if Tresten had disappeared, there wasn’t any way for him to do so.

  They could wander, searching the landscape for signs of Urik and Tresten, but how long were they willing to do so? He felt well, and the night of sleep had restored him, but he doubted that would last for too long. Eventually, thirst and hunger would overwhelm him. And that was not even accounting for the possibility of rain.

  He looked at the sky, noting the clouds, and grunted. “I don’t know how long we have before the storms come.”

  “From the sound of the thunder, I would guess we don’t have more than a few hours.”

  “You can predict the weather now?” Endric asked.

  “Listain had some ways of tracking the weather. Especially in Vasha, where it was often unpredictable.”

  If anyone would have a way of anticipating the weather, it would be Listain, and he likely would have taught Senda about it.

  “If we have a few hours, then I’d like to take part of that and see if we can pick up their trail.”

  “Their? Tresten wasn’t in any shape to walk, and that’s assuming he somehow managed to come around,” she said, the tone of her voice making clear how unlikely she thought that to be.

  “Fine. Urik’s trail.”

  “You seem determined to avoid putting this on Urik when he’s the only one who could have taken Tresten from here. Why don’t you want to blame him for this?”

  “I…” He squeezed his eyes shut, thinking back to all the times that Urik had hurt him and those he cared about. Could he really have thought that person was gone? With everything Urik had done, how had he allowed himself to think that Urik had changed?

  But it seemed as if Urik had. Tresten had believed it, and Endric had every reason to think that Tresten of all people would have known whether Urik was deserving of his trust. It had been Tresten who had brought them together, as if forcing Endric and Urik to work cooperatively.

  “I don’t completely discount the fact that Urik is responsible for all that he has done, but I’ve tried to see the other side of it. If nothing else, I think that’s the lesson my father wanted me to have.”

  She studied him for a moment before nodding. “Whenever you’re ready.”

  Endric looked around the place they’d rested, but they hadn’t set up any formal sort of camp as the Denraen normally did. There was nothing for him to clean up. How had he managed to sleep so soundly on the hard rock?

  They started off, heading away from the coast, continuing inland. Endric watched the sky as they went, worried about the rumbling of the incoming storms. The longer they walked, the more the thunder echoed, making him all too aware of what was coming. The captain had warned them to be back at the ship before rain hit, and Endric was not interested in testing whether they could survive crossing the sea once storms came through. He didn’t like their chances, especially considering what he’d seen of the sea when it had been relatively calm.

  It was difficult finding any sign of someone passing along the rock. Urik left no trail, as there could be no prints left in the stone. They wandered blindly, and Endric wasn’t even certain whether they headed in the same direction that Urik had chosen. With the protruding rock, Urik could have hidden anywhere, leaving them following the wrong way.

  “I think we need to turn back,” Senda said.

  Thunder boomed overhead and Endric sighed. She was right, and it frustrated him that they had seen nothing that would indicate Tresten or Urik had passed this way. “Fine.”

  He turned, trying to determine which way they’d come, but without the sun to orient himself, it was not easy to do. “Do you remember which way we came?”

  “Are you kidding with me?”

  “When we first came ashore, we had the sun to follow and guide us. Now there is nothing but the gray skies.”

  “And the movement of the clouds, Endric.”

  He stared up at the sky and noted that the clouds were moving in a particular direction. “Which way do we follow them?”

  “Assuming the wind doesn’t shift, we follow them back toward the sea. The storm was moving out of the east.”

  “Across Salvat. That’s right.”

  They started in the direction of the cloud movement, but as they went, Endric saw nothing that appeared familiar. No rock formations reminded him of what they had passed through before. There was simply nothing but new rock. Could they have chosen the wrong direction? Had he thought about it, he would have left something of a trail, but even that might have been difficult to follow, and he wouldn’t have had any way to leave such a marker.

  The storm rumbled closer. As it did, the wind picked up, whipping thr
ough him. It sliced with what felt like sharp, painful needles. “We need to reach the boat quickly,” Senda said.

  “We only walked for a few hours,” Endric said.

  “Then we need to march more quickly,” she said. “If we get stuck in this, there is no way the captain would remain in the storm for us. There’s no way he would be able to.”

  They started marching, practically running across the rock. Had he not rested as well as he had the night before, he doubted he would have been able to keep a quick pace. Senda kept up with him, stretching her legs with each stride but still needing to keep almost double his pace.

  When the rain came, it came in sheets. It drenched him immediately, and he had to slow so that he didn’t slip over slick rock.

  Senda looked over at him. “Even if we managed to reach the boat, we aren’t going to be able to go very far in this.”

  “We need to try,” Endric said.

  “Endric. We need shelter. If the storm gets any worse…”

  She didn’t need to finish. Thunder punctuated her words and lightning began streaking, brightening the sky.

  Endric swore under his breath, hating that they were running away, hating more that he had lost Tresten and the opportunity to return him to the Conclave and whatever help he might have gotten for him.

  “What do you suggest?” he asked.

  “We need to find some cover.”

  “There is no cover here. It’s nothing but these rocks.”

  “Maybe there’s some way that we could squeeze between the rocks,” she said.

  They started looking for places where the rocks came together, anything that might provide some shelter. The deluge of rain made it difficult to see anything, so they had to move more slowly, feeling their way along. It was Senda who found a place that might work.

  It was little more than a narrow arch of rock, but it was enough for both of them to crawl underneath, keeping themselves partly dry. They were entirely soaked, but pressing together beneath the rock allowed the warmth of their bodies to mingle, giving them a little more comfort.

  He twisted, trying to make room for Senda, but they were forced together. After the time they’d spent with emotional distance between them, it was an awkward closeness.