“Now you know why I said there’s something you must see,” Edsel explained. “They’re few things I know of that can harvest sela.”
“You’re speaking of daemons aren’t you?” Irmina blurted out. “How?” she added at Ryne’s nod.
Spreading his hands helplessly, Ryne said, “I don’t know.” His Scripts roiled again. As at the other wraithwoods, he knew there was only one thing to do. “I need you all to leave here.”
“But-” Garon began.
“Leave now,” Ryne ordered without raising his voice.
Sakari stepped in between everyone and Ryne.
Edsel took Garon by the arm. “Do as the Lightbringer says.”
“You too,” Ryne said, without looking at Irmina. His Scripts continued to flit and shift around him, responding to the shade.
Irmina said nothing. Her face finally regaining some semblance of color, she left with the others. Sakari followed her.
Ryne studied the wraithwoods. He didn’t understand how the shadelings could’ve reached this side of the Vallum. Not to mention that they were advancing at a far faster rate than he could have imagined. However they were managing the feat, it didn’t matter. They had to be stopped. And soon.
Where Garon’s power had struck, the wraithwoods were already growing again, blocking outside influences of light. Ryne touched his Scripts, drawing on the ones depicting the sun and the twin moons. Light and fire essences rushed into him. The voices skittered through his mind, but he brushed them aside, and unsheathed his sword. The essences spread within him like flames through dry brush. He pushed them into the weapon, and it burst alight with a soft, white glow.
Around him, the shade-filled leaves wilted. The grass beneath his feet disintegrated into smoking ash. Skin peeled from the bodies of the Setian and wraithwolves alike, and the stench of burnt flesh and hair replaced the reek of decay. The trees themselves seemed to shrink back from the light. He bent and slammed the sword into the earth. Still holding the hilt, he linked with the earth and sent the light and fire through it. A breath left his lips, and at the same time, he triggered the power his sword held.
A noiseless concussion shook the trees. Light swept around him in an incandescent pillar that spread rapidly with him at its center. The Forms and Streams mingled in the earth and carried the Forging to its purpose.
Shade shattered.
The wraithwoods, the bodies, and the shadelings crumpled and turned to ash. Air rose as wind and took the ashes with it. The pillar of Light shot up into the air.
A clear, circular area, devoid of vegetation with Ryne at its center and steam rising in a dreary mist, replaced the wraithwoods. Ryne’s sword winked out. In one motion, he pulled it from the earth and sheathed the weapon. As he released his Matersense, he took several deep breaths to steady himself, and strode from the trees toward the others.
Irmina gawked. Edsel and Garon’s eyes shone with reverence as they regarded Ryne. They both bowed. Sakari regarded him with a blank expression.
“Are there anymore wraithwood manifestations?” Ryne asked.
“Yes, three more, across the valley to the east,” Garon said as he led them from the forest toward their mounts. “I can have the scouts lead us there-”
“No. I can find them on my own. You need to get to your people now. Head to the Vallum. It’ll be the safest place for you.”
“Our homes are in the mountains, right next to the Vallum,” Edsel said, a hint of pride in his voice as they reached the dartans.
Irmina’s head snapped around to the man.
Edsel shrugged and a smile played across his lips. “There’s no safer place than under the noses of your worst enemy. It’s the last place they would expect. What’s your plan, Lightbringer?”
“I’m going to destroy the other woods before they’re put to anymore use. Then I’m going to hunt the daemon responsible,” Ryne declared.
Silence hung heavy in the air with his words. No one spoke until they reached the mounts.
Garon felt around inside the bags on his dartan and pulled out a map. He studied it for a moment then pointed at three locations. “Here, here and here. That’s where you’ll find the other manifestations. Please, Lightbringer, let some of our men go with you. The daggerpaws can track the shadelings better than any man. Besides, I’ve been trying to tell you-it’s no daemon that did this. It was a man.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, we watched him for days. Every time he came and left, the wraithwoods grew.”
“Did your men try to stop him?”
“Several did. He killed them with a mere wave of his hand. My father decided then we needed to find you.”
One man who could create wraithwoods or somehow help them grow? This had to be the Skadwaz he and Sakari suspected or worse some High Ashishin who’d turned traitor. Ryne studied the Vallum. What in Ilumni’s name was going on? “Did he Forge shade?”
Garon nodded. “Some yes, but he mostly killed with a Forge of light, fire and earth essences.”
Ryne’s eyes widened, and he glanced to Sakari who gave him a simple shrug. Edsel’s face mirrored Garon’s words. Irmina’s hiss said she too knew what it meant. Only the most powerful could Forge two or more different elements of Mater at the same time.
“Ryne,” Irmina said, her eyes wide with sudden fear. “I need to speak to you now.” She looked at the others. “Alone.”
Edsel led Garon away and Ryne nodded to Sakari.
Irmina made sure they were out of earshot before she began. “With all that’s been happening, it slipped my mind. But I started to think. I–I met a woman who told me about this. About the creation of new shadelings using people.”
“What woman?”
“Her name was Tae.” She paused for a moment at his narrowed eyes before she continued. “She saved my life. She’s the reason I survived Ranoda. She said there’s now enough power in the world for such an undertaking. She mentioned a skill being used among Amuni’s Children that only one as powerful as a High Ashishin could use. I–I think there’s a Skadwaz here in Denestia. That must be who did this.”
“Or a Shin who’s been turned.” He kept his face impassive despite the sharp look she gave him. “What did this woman look like?”
Irmina described Taeria down to her leathery skin. First, Bertram, and now, Taeria. He rubbed at his temples as if it would push the memories away. “First I’ll take care of the wraithwoods, then we’ll warn Varick,” he said, his voice strained.Hagan, you and your pipe, always generous and willing to help those in need, among the first to accept me. Vana and Vera… The faces and names flooded Ryne again.
Irmina nodded, and they walked off to meet up with the others. Over in the trees, a bright light sparked from the direction of the kinai orchard. A crackling sound reached them from the same area.
“We’re burning the kinai,” Garon said, in response to Irmina’s frown. “This way whoever he is cannot use these plants again.”
“Listen,” Ryne said. “What I’m about to do will draw this man’s attention. Pathfinders will come here soon enough anyway with what’s happened. You need to move your people now.” Ryne took in the stubborn set of Edsel’s jaw. “There’s no other way to ensure your safety and force his hand at the same time.”
Edsel’s jaw relaxed and his eyes softened. “If times were different, I would’ve insisted on coming with you. However, I have a people to preserve. We planned for a new place to settle when this first began. We’ll travel farther north along the Vallum. We should be safe enough that way.”
Ryne grabbed Thumper’s reins and turned to Irmina. “Take Thumper-”
“I’m coming with you.”
Ryne opened his mouth to disagree. Her willingness to help him even if it meant her death came back to him. “How about this? I promise to return with you to your master if you go with the Setian.”
Her forehead wrinkled. She studied his face for a moment, then nodded. “If you’re not back by dawn, I’ll find you.”