Soldier Scarred Page 9

  He landed in a pool of water. Not the one where he sat now—and he was quite aware that he was dreaming and that this was nothing more than a vision—and this pool was larger than the others he had found. Stunted trees grew up around it and their branches were a deep silvery gray that was almost black. Even the leaves had taken on a grayish tone so that they would blend into the rock. Was it the effect of teralin? Did that leach into the water more than he had realized? If so, then it had changed something about the life around it.

  Endric swam to the shore. The water felt slightly denser than sea water, and he struggled against it. Some went into his mouth and he coughed, reminded of how he had nearly drowned only to have Senda pull him free. When he reached the rock, he scrambled up onto it and rested his head back.

  There was a sense of moving again. Endric sat up and noticed a vast emptiness around him. He remained on Salvat, with the rock all around him, though with less places to hide than there were in other settings. In the distance, he noted a finger of rock rising into the sky. Near it, he noted a few boulders which formed something that reminded him of the village of Joyner. Endric was drawn toward it and, with a few steps, he was carried to that place.

  He stopped near the tall finger of rock, looking around. Why would he have been drawn here? Was there something that he was meant to see? Endric felt the pull of teralin, but that was it. There was nothing else here.

  He turned, noted the distant sense of Oluantiin Mountain. From here, it barely rose over the horizon. How far away from this point was the mountain? Was this someplace he was meant to find?

  Endric looked around, feeling as if he were meant to understand, only he didn’t.

  He took a seat on the rock and closed his eyes.

  When he opened them, he remained in the same place. For some reason, this was where his vision wanted him to be.

  He opened his eyes again. As he did, he snapped free of the vision and sat up.

  The horse remained where he’d left him, chewing on one of the small shrubs. The sun had drifted in the sky and Endric felt tired, as if he had been walking, traveling for real rather than only in his vision.

  It was a vision, wasn’t it? Maybe it was nothing more than a dream, but he had been aware of the fact that he had been dreaming. That was unusual.

  He looked up at the peak of the mountain. It had been a vision, nothing but a dream, hadn’t it? Only, it had felt real. It seemed as if he could actually reach it, though that seemed impossible.

  Natalie would have told him that he had been given some blessing of the gods, and with what he had experienced, how could he think otherwise?

  He turned his attention away from the mountain peak. That wasn’t where he needed to go. He didn’t know why he was certain of that, but he felt compelled.

  Endric climbed onto the saddle and started away from the mountain.

  It was nearly dark when he saw a strange outline in the distance. There was something familiar about it and as he neared, he realized what it was. It was the stunted trees that he had seen in his vision. They looked exactly as they had in his vision, and he approached slowly, trying to ignore the shock he felt.

  In the fading daylight, he saw the silvery gray outline of the trunks. The grayish leaves seemed to reflect the remnants of the sunlight, making them glow softly.

  If the vision had been accurate, he would find a massive pool of water here. Considering these trees, Endric wasn’t certain he wanted to drink from it. Would he end up discolored the same way? Was it even safe for the horse?

  It had been nearly two days since he had last stopped at a pool, and both he and the horse were tired and thirsty. The horse was slower than he had been, and his head sagged. Endric didn’t want to ride the stallion into death, but there hadn’t been any place for them to stop before now.

  The horse whinnied and swished his tail.

  Endric patted his side. “I don’t know that the water here is safe,” he said.

  The horse whinnied again. He picked up the pace and squeezed between a pair of trees. The pool was before him.

  The horse didn’t hesitate and reached for the water, drinking quickly.

  Endric climbed from the saddle, taking a more cautious approach. He was thirsty, but did he risk this water? He had food. Natalie had ensured that he had some with him, and had sold him plenty of jerky to keep him supplied for the entirety of his journey—at least as far as she suspected he would travel.

  If he didn’t drink now, where would he drink next? For that matter, even if he did drink now, where would he drink next?

  He stuck his nose down to the water and breathed in. It didn’t smell too much like teralin, and when he dipped his hand in, he didn’t find it to be too hot, either.

  He cupped a handful of water to his mouth and dipped his tongue into it. It was bitter, but not unpleasantly so, and even less than the last place they had stopped.

  Endric leaned over the edge of the pool and stuck his face into the water, taking long drinks.

  He tried to ignore the strange bitterness in the water, telling himself that the water was fine, and he didn’t need to worry about somehow poisoning himself. He told himself that as he lapped at the water, letting it run down his chin and fill his mouth with the strange warmth. The horse seemed unmindful of the fact that it was drinking potentially poisoned water. Either that, or the water really was safe for both Endric and the horse to drink. He wasn’t sure which it was.

  When he sat up, he was lightheaded. He tried to convince himself that the lightheadedness was not a sign of some poisoning, but that was no longer effective on him. For all he knew, he had been poisoned.

  If he were, it seemed a cruel irony that it would be teralin to have poisoned him. With everything he had been through dealing with teralin, it seemed as if he should not continue to suffer from it.

  Day passed into night, and Endric rested. He focused on the surroundings, wondering whether he would detect anything unusual here. He was far enough removed from the mountain, and had now reached a point where there was really nothing else around him, so Endric doubted that he would.

  When he rested, he feared dreaming again.

  He wasn’t convinced that he hadn’t had a vision from one of the gods. He had never been terribly devout, but he couldn’t deny the imagery that had come to him, or the fact that it had felt all too real. How else could he explain the fact that everything he had seen in the visions had come to pass?

  There wasn’t an explanation for that.

  When morning came, Endric risked another drink, more easily ignoring the teralin infusion in the water. The horse drank again, pausing while grazing along some of the shrubs to take a long drink at the pool. Endric patted the horse and led the creature away from the pool.

  Where was he to go now?

  The answer hadn’t come in any vision, and he didn’t see any sign of where he should travel next. Whatever he was to do, he would have to come up with it on his own.

  Was he making a mistake coming here? He had wanted to find something for Senda, had he not?

  He glanced back to the teralin-infused pool. Hadn’t Aria and the Teachers suggested that she needed divine intervention?

  What was teralin but something given to man by the gods?

  If the water contained the teralin, and it was safe enough to drink, maybe this was what he needed to find for Senda.

  And even if it was not, it was time for him to return.

  There was nothing out here for him other than the mountain, and Endric knew that he couldn’t climb to the peak. And the vision had instructed him to come here.

  That had to mean something, didn’t it?

  Endric paused at the pool and pulled out a few of the vials that he’d emptied and dosed Senda with, filling them with the water. If nothing else, he could see how this might pass as some sort of divine intervention. The water carried with it a sense of teralin, and he had seen how teralin had been used time and again. There was power to the metal, an
d it was a power that he thought he would need to utilize on Senda’s behalf.

  Now all that remained was returning to Elaniin.

  Maybe that was his purpose in coming here. Maybe had to prove that he was devout enough to save her. Or maybe none of that mattered and she was beyond saving.

  Endric looked around, wishing he understood what he was to do, before climbing back into the saddle. Using the mountain to guide him, he turned back.

  12

  After a brief stop in Joyner, wishing that he could stay and fighting the urge to visit with Natalie, Endric returned to the canicharl. Arriving in the daylight provided a much better view, and he was able to see the building much better. It was unassuming, nothing like the University in Vasha, and thankfully not at all like the palace or even the Tower. It was simply a large structure that loomed over the city.

  When Endric arrived at the door, he knocked.

  He waited with trepidation. Would they welcome him in? When they did, would they allow him to visit with Senda and attempt to use the teralin-infused water to heal her—if he could? Endric had kept the vials close, unwilling to take them out of his pocket, fearful that if they could somehow help her, he needed to be prepared.

  A young woman answered the door. She looked at him, a question plain on her face. “How may the Teachers be of service?”

  Endric was surprised to be greeted by a girl like this, and even more surprised that she portrayed herself as one of the Teachers. She seemed incredibly young for that. “I brought a friend here a while ago.”

  “Did she come to study?” the girl asked.

  Endric shook his head. “Not to study. She was sick, and I was told there might be little that could be done for her, but I had to try.”

  The girl’s eyes widened. “You brought her here?”

  Endric met her gaze. She had knowing eyes—almost too knowing. “Should I not have brought her here?”

  “We don’t see many like her. She has been quite the topic for study,” she said.

  Endric could imagine Senda’s reaction to knowing that she was the topic for study. More likely than not, it would annoy her greatly, but none of it mattered if she didn’t survive.

  “Can I see her?”

  The girl nodded and stepped to the side, allowing Endric in. If she hadn’t, would he have been willing to force his way into the canicharl? He didn’t like the idea of forcing himself in against a girl this age, but he also didn’t like the idea of being prevented from reaching Senda.

  Lanterns glowed along the hall she guided him through. She took him in a different direction than the way he had come before.

  “Isn’t she that way?” Endric asked, pointing down a distant hallway.

  “She had been, but she was moved when her condition changed.”

  “How did it change?” Endric asked.

  “She was very sick when you brought her here. And from what I understand, you brought her to Aria first.”

  Endric nodded. Had he made a mistake in taking Senda to Aria? He didn’t think so, especially as she likely wouldn’t have survived had he not, but it was possible his mistake had been something else. He had administered the remaining vials to Senda before leaving. Had that done something to her? Had he somehow poisoned her?

  If she were sicker, it could very well be his fault.

  He tried to ignore the hammering in his heart at the idea that he was responsible for poisoning Senda, but he couldn’t. If it was his fault, he prayed that the teralin-infused water would help her. There was no reason other than the strange dream he’d had to think that it would work, though.

  She stopped at a door and clasped her hands in front of her. “You may go in, but you should know that she is comfortable.”

  Endric could only nod.

  He opened the door and stepped inside. Immediately, the stench of rot threatened to overwhelm him, and he understood why she must have been brought away from the others. It was a horrible odor, and it nauseated him, but he forced himself to suppress the bile rising in his throat. A candle rested on a table, and it glowed with a faint light. It was barely enough for him to see clearly.

  Endric paused, letting his eyes adjust. There was a single cot in the room. Endric approached slowly and looked at Senda as his eyes adjusted. She was sick, her skin a pale white and moist, her hair slicked with sweat, and a bloat about her.

  “Gods, Senda. I’m so sorry.”

  He took her hand and her flesh squished beneath his. What was happening to her? Was this the result of Aria’s medicine, or was this because of the creature that had attacked her, pulling her under? He had thought her drowned and nothing more, but maybe that wasn’t the case.

  He unstoppered the vials and rested them on the cot. As he started tipping the first one to her mouth, he hesitated.

  Teralin was found in multiple forms. When it was unmined, it was neutral, but the teralin he was most familiar with came in the positive polarity. Would it matter which polarity Senda consumed? Did it matter which polarity he consumed?

  He had to think that the positive polarity would be what he wanted to administer, didn’t it? If she took in one of the others, would it help her recover or would it only make her sicker?

  Endric studied the vials. The water was translucent, though in the faint candlelight, there were flecks within it that seemed to take on a light.

  He had to charge the teralin within the water.

  It had been a while since he had attempted to do so, but the memory of it remained fresh. He focused on the water and then focused deeper, on the teralin he knew to be within those vials. He had tasted it. He had felt it within himself.

  Endric pushed.

  There was no other way to describe what he did, but the water rippled briefly and then began to glow faintly, the fleck no longer simply reflecting the light but seeming to radiate it. The water had been warm—a result of the teralin—and it cooled slightly. The effect was faint, barely noticeable, but he’d been holding these vials for the entire journey back and he was aware of the moment that it happened.

  He heard the door handle begin to turn.

  If he waited, he doubted that the Teachers would allow him to administer this water. Likely they would think he was administering some toxin, the same as he would have acquired from Aria.

  Endric hurriedly poured the first of the vials into Senda’s mouth. It pooled in the back of her throat and he closed her mouth, ignoring the uncomfortably squishy way that her flesh felt until she swallowed involuntarily.

  The door opened.

  Endric poured another vial into her mouth, still holding her mouth closed. She swallowed again.

  “What are you doing with her?”

  Endric recognized the elderly Teacher’s voice. The man still had that edge of irritation, and Endric ignored him, grabbing the last of the vials and pouring that into Senda’s mouth, holding it closed.

  Only now did he turned back to the man. The Teacher was dressed in a gray jacket and pants, and he considered Endric with eyes brimming with anger.

  “What have you done to her?” The Teacher asked.

  “You said she needed divine intervention,” Endric said.

  “In that, she needed the gods to smile upon her as she Ascends to join them,” he said.

  “I’m not ready for her to Ascend.”

  “Is it really your choice? Do any of us get to choose the time or manner of our departure? Or do you think that the gods have something planned for us?”

  Endric heard Senda breathing, but that was it. Would it matter that he had given her those three small vials of teralin-infused water, or did she need more than that?

  “I think the gods still have something planned for her,” Endric said.

  “Now you speak on behalf of the gods, Endric, son of Dendril?”

  Endric stiffened. The Teacher knew who he was. “Do I know you?”

  “You don’t know me. I have heard all about you, though.”

  “How?”


  The man looked over Endric’s shoulder to Senda, studying her for a moment until seemingly satisfied that Endric hadn’t actually poisoned her. He turned and motioned for Endric to follow.

  “I’m not leaving her here.”

  “You left her here for over a week, Endric. Do you really think another hour is going to create a problem?”

  Endric actually didn’t know the answer. If the teralin-infused water were to help Senda, he might need to hurriedly take her and ride with her back across Salvat and search for the strange pool once more.

  But the Teacher seemed as if he wanted to show something to Endric, and his curiosity won out. He touched Senda’s hand again, and for a moment thought that maybe she squeezed back before deciding that it must be only his imagination. She was far too sick to respond.

  He pulled the door closed as he left and took a deep breath of air that did not stink as Senda’s room did.

  “It is an awful aroma, isn’t it?” the Teacher asked.

  “What is it?” Endric asked him.

  “We think that she has begun to deteriorate. It is as if her body decomposes. Something keeps her alive. Otherwise she might already be dead.”

  “Something being Aria’s concoction?”

  “Something being an unknown. Aria does nothing more than prey on superstition. If her healing actually worked, others would use it.”

  “What if others don’t know of it?”

  “It is best that they don’t,” the Teacher said.

  “What is it that you fear from Aria?”

  “I fear nothing. It’s the influence she has that worries me.”

  “Because you don’t share the same influence? Do you think that she might use her influence to overwhelm that of the Teachers?”

  The man paused. He looked over at Endric, eyeing him from head to toe. “Do you fear the Denraen influence being superseded by another?”

  Endric shook his head. “The Denraen are superior fighters to almost any other army.”