The words sparked memories, and as simple they were, he knew the truth within each. He’d lived the Disciplines all his life. “I have not forgotten, but there is only one of me. We face a battle with Ancel still unprepared. In Ilumni’s name, the entire world is unprepared. Whenever I receive news, it seems as if our enemies are ten steps ahead of me. My own brothers hate me. Even now, I sense them heading to probable doom. As much as I want to warn them, my duty lies here with him.” He faced her. “Have you ever had a wish to be able to split yourself in multiple parts?” She nodded. “Well that is how I feel right now. I am powerful and yet still powerless.”
“Frustrating isn’t it?” Despite her long leather cloak, the bottom of Galiana’s white dress billowed in the breeze.
“Too much so.”
“Tell me,” Galiana looked up to meet his gaze, “why would your fellow Eztezians hate you?”
Ryne paused as he considered not answering. Finally, he took a breath. “When we created the Great Divide, it served three purposes. To imprison the shadelings, trap our power within it, and seal the other Eztezians. We agreed that whichever among us was the most lucid would be the one to complete that last task. I was the youngest so it fell to me. Later, as Nerian, under control of Voliny’s master, I broke their seals and released our power back into the world before the Shadowbearer War. My weakness is the reason we face what we do. Now, they return to that fount of power, and I’m sure our enemies await them.” He’d expected some sense of shock from her.
Instead, the tightness around Galiana’s eyes and lips eased into tenderness. “You are so much like your brother. You place the world on your shoulders. A world that the Annendin created pantheons to manage its survival. Yet, you feel you should be able to do what they could not. These aren’t humans we face, Thanarien, but netherlings who managed to defeat the gods with their schemes, even if it is only a momentary victory in the scope of time. On the other hand, in the Skadwaz, we face a god’s creations who are at least as powerful as you.”
“And here I thought your intention was to make me feel better.”
Galiana smiled. “I am giving you some perspective that you seem to have lost. It will take a combined effort from all of us, the people included, as well as whatever else we can draw to our side.”
And still we may face defeat.
“Things may look impossible, but believing there is a way is better than the alternative.”
He sighed. “In many ways I wish the gods would free themselves already, and either declare their retribution or their protection. At the rate events are moving, no path exists where they aren’t freed.”
“I will tell you honestly,” Galiana said, “I never thought there to be any other way. You and I both know some things are beyond the hands of men. We play our part. That is all we can do.”
“Hoping it will be enough has become drearier over the centuries. Regardless of what we do now, not much is left besides ashes. Ashes and blood.”
“And hope. Remember you mentioned that first. All these years and never once did you give up. So why now? Why when you appear to have one of the most powerful Eztezians since Damal?”
Weariness dragged on Ryne, heavier than the sword at his hip, more persistent than the mists clinging below. “If this were a thousand years ago, and he had time to learn every nuance of his skills, maybe. But as you pointed out, we need everyone. To know four of them may die before the day of reckoning comes leaves much to be desired.”
“If fate had not proved to be nonexistent thing, I would say it was meant to be.” Galiana looked directly into his eyes, her expression solemn. “What if there might be a way to reach your brothers?”
Ryne perked up at the suggestion, but he had an inkling of what she might suggest. “With the presence of the vasumbrals, as well as the Pathfinders, Materialization is a terrible idea. Not to mention that one cannot Materialize from one side of the Vallum to the next.”
“Which is why I did not mention it.”
“Then how?”
“The Elder Assembly woke the zyphyls.”
Ryne made to speak then stopped and began to pace. Mind whirling, he considered the possibilities. He froze in mid-step. “Galiana, when did they wake them?”
“At least a year ago.”
“Who did?”
“My source only said the order came from the Elder Assembly. Why?”
“Did you ever discover how the shadelings managed to breach the Vallum?”
From Galaina’s hiss, he could tell she understood.
“Oh no, oh, oh, no,” she whispered.
Chapter 40
“We should have gone down to the common room.” Mirza took another sip from his mug. All that remained on his plate was a sizable flatbread. “It’s a good way to start the morning, admiring the Stoneman’s girls.”
“I’d expect that from Danvir, not you.” At the room’s large mahogany table, Ancel licked sauce from his fingers, savoring the tangy flavor and scent of boiled eggs mixed with creamy, diced potatoes.
A bone cracked where Charra was worrying at a haunch almost devoid of meat. Golden lances of sunlight shone through the slits in the half-open shutters and space in the curtains, illuminating the marble floors. Wood in the hearth crackled, but the fresh air eased the room’s heat.
“What do you mean?” Mirza asked.
“It isn’t such a smart idea.” Ancel was doing his best to be modest.
Mirza paused with the mug to his lips and glanced at him askance.
“Think on it, as you and Dan like to say. The trackers and Pathfinders were already here. If we go into the common room, it’s likely that someone will put faces to names as Ewald did. All it will take is one eagle, and they’re back here again.”
Mirza offered a half-hearted grumble before he sipped his tea again. The old Mirza would have spoken his mind regardless.
“You know, you’ve been acting strange ever since the Entosis.” Ancel stared directly at his friend hoping Mirza would meet his gaze.
“What makes you say that?” Mirza avoided looking his way.
“We grew up together, Mirz. I know you as well as I know myself.”
“That’s debatable.”
Ancel smiled. The quip was a little of the Mirza he enjoyed being around. “Anyway, as I was saying, you’ve been acting strangely toward me. Every conversation with you feels like I’m pulling teeth. You act as if you can’t joke with me anymore. Some days when I catch you looking at me, it’s as if you’re seeing someone else.”
Silence stretched between them broken by the crunching of bones. The clang of smiths at work and the buzz of a busy town awaking floated upon a breeze that rattled the shutters and whispered its secrets to the curtains whose fabric swished an answer.
Mirza let out a protracted breath, his chest sinking in as he shook his head. Finally, his and Ancel’s eyes made four. “Since the … that place, I do see someone else.”
“I’m me, Mirz, the same Ancel you’ve always known.”
“Are you?”
“Well … yes … just a bit stronger.”
A smile creased Mirza’s lips. “See, that’s another thing. Somewhere since all this happened, you learned to be humble. Just a bit stronger.” He shook his head again and made a sound in the back of his throat. “We walked into a place in the middle of winter, and inside, it was summer. There were creatures I have dreamed of and others I never knew existed.
“Ancel, you flung fire and lightning, created shields from the earth, and moved faster than humanly possible. I think the only thing I didn’t see you do was shoot lightning out your ass. Although you got trashed most of the times, there was the odd moment or two where you held your own against some giant that taught you. Wait. No. Not just a giant. According to Galiana, the spirit of an Eztezian.