That was easy for him to say. He wasn’t the one possibly on the verge of going off the deep end.
“Mychael Eiliesor would be the one to ask,” Garadin added. “The Guardians play anything to do with the Saghred close to the vest. You’ve decided to meet with him?”
I nodded. “As soon as I’ve had some sleep. I have a feeling I’m going to need it.”
“Do you know where to find him?”
I smiled, though it probably looked more like a grimace. “That’s the only easy part of this whole mess. I don’t have to do a thing. He’ll find me. He’s been popping into my head on a regular basis lately, so the next time he does it, I’ll just make a date. I was going to find him first, but I’d rather have a few hours of sleep.”
“Do you want some company when you meet with him?” Phaelan asked.
I took another swig of whiskey coffee. It didn’t burn now, but then I couldn’t feel my tongue anymore, either.
“All I can get,” I told him. “I don’t want any misunderstandings. When I tell him he can have the beacon, he needs to know that I’m not part of the deal.”
Phaelan drained his own mug. “I think we can help him understand that.”
“Tell me more about the creatures that attacked you and Piaras,” Garadin said.
“What Sarad Nukpana cooked up?”
“Those are the ones.”
“More like shadows than anything,” I told him. “That is, if shadows were solid, and if ink could eat people.” I fought a shiver and failed. “Nukpana called them Magh’Sceadu. I know goblin, but I’ve never heard that term before. Do you know what they are?”
Garadin nodded. “They’re a Khrynsani creation, supposedly made out of goblin elemental magics. They function much like a sponge. They absorb magic in those who have it, and the life force of those who don’t. The shaman who created them can then use the harvested power for other purposes.”
If Sarad Nukpana was their creator, I wasn’t anxious to hear about those other purposes, or think about how close Piaras and I came to finding out firsthand. The first order of business when I met with Mychael Eiliesor should probably be a thank you.
“They can take any form their creator chooses,” Garadin continued. “But as with most conjurings, you can make them as elaborate or simple as needed. Elaborate takes time and effort. From your description, what you encountered were Magh’Sceadu at their most basic. A quick and dirty version. Apparently the Khrynsani are more concerned with getting a specific job done rather than making them look pretty.”
I didn’t need to ask what that job was. Or more to the point, who that job was.
I looked over at Piaras. He was still asleep. Good. I didn’t want him to hear what I was going to ask. I didn’t want to know the answer, but I needed to. I had seen what they had done to Siseal Peli and the goblin shamans who had tried to rein them in, but I didn’t know what had actually happened to them. If I ran into Nukpana’s beasties again, I wanted to be better prepared, though I really didn’t think it would help. The shamans thought they were prepared, and look what it got them. But I’d take a little knowledge over a lot of ignorance any day. At the very least, I’d die knowing what killed me.
“I don’t think Sarad Nukpana intended the Magh’Sceadu for you or Piaras,” Garadin said, not completely misreading my thoughts. “Considering what they were made to do, sending them after you would have been heavy-handed, not to mention wasteful in Nukpana’s opinion. You have the beacon, he wants the Saghred, so he wants you alive.”
Garadin didn’t need to tell me that. I had figured out that sickening fact all by myself.
“Nukpana probably turned them loose in The Ruins to feed on the magical creatures there,” Garadin continued. “Less chance of attracting the city watch that way.”
Made sense to me. “The shamans lost control of them and paid the price. If I hadn’t been able to do whatever it was I did, we probably would have ended up the same way.”
“Possibly.”
I fought down a wave of nausea. No, probably.
“I’d say that you and Piaras together attracted their attention. You certainly got mine. One whiff of your magic and they probably snapped their leashes, so to speak, to get at you. Once they were on your trail, all the shamans could do was chase them down and try to regain control.”
“So the shamans were eaten?” Phaelan asked.
I didn’t like the sound of that last word at all. But from the horror that I had witnessed, that was the most apt description.
“Absorbed would be more accurate,” Garadin said. “Once a Magh’Sceadu has had its fill, a Khrynsani shaman uses what was taken to power their own sorceries. Then they turn it loose to fill its belly, or whatever, again. As to what a shaman does with that power boost, it’s generally big, nasty, and something even a group of the most talented shamans couldn’t, or wouldn’t want to, do alone.”
That sounded too close to the Saghred’s idea of fun for my taste. I suddenly wanted more whiskey in my whiskey coffee.
“That ‘big and nasty’ wouldn’t extend to opening Gates by any chance?” I asked.
Garadin nodded. “That and a whole bevy of other nice, wholesome activities. I haven’t exactly gone out of my way to get direct knowledge. Like Gate creation, the rituals said to be used to make a Magh’Sceadu are repugnant to say the least. Blood, torture, and living sacrifices—it’s unclear whether any of these are actually required, but it gives the Khrynsani an excuse.”
A kidnapping could leave a trail. Absorbing didn’t leave anything. It went a long way toward explaining the sorcerers who had vanished recently without a trace. Magh’Sceadu didn’t leave leftovers.
I had a lot to think about, and I had a feeling no one I had run into this evening was going to wait patiently while I sorted everything out. I looked up. Garadin was watching me intently.
“What are you going to do about…?” He nodded in Piaras’s direction, not wanting to say his name out loud for fear of waking him.
Piaras was curled under the blanket, his breathing deep and even. I knew exactly what Garadin meant. Too many people knew what he was capable of. Too many of the wrong kind of people. I wasn’t the only reason those Magh’Sceadu came after us. I may not have even been the main reason. After putting the goblin guards to sleep, and then confronting Nukpana’s pet monsters, Piaras had glowed with power, and it hadn’t diminished until we had left The Ruins. He had left a trail for just about anything that wanted to follow us.
“He did good work tonight,” I said quietly.
“I know,” Garadin said. “I heard him.”
“So did a lot of other people.”
“You weren’t exactly discreet yourself.”
“But I’ve dealt with crazies before,” I said. “Some almost as bad as Sarad Nukpana. It’s what I do for a living. It’s my choice. Piaras didn’t have a choice.” I lowered my voice further. “Piaras used a repelling spell against the Magh’Sceadu. In goblin. You taught him that, right?”
Garadin’s gaze met mine unflinchingly. “I thought it was something he might need to know. How did he do?”
“Very proficient. Almost too much so.”
“Those spells are complex. Especially in goblin. The boy kept his head.” Garadin nodded his own in approval. “Good.”
I agreed it was good that Piaras kept his head. But I wasn’t happy that he had been put in a situation where he risked losing it in the first place.
“I’d just rather he not have to make a habit of defending himself against creatures like that. Normally I could arrange for him to stay in one of Markus’s safehouses, but they’re all full. Besides, I’d rather he be with people he knows. Any suggestions?” I asked Garadin.
“Home would be the best place for him.”
“But is it safe?”
“Tarsilia has some of the strongest house wards in the District,” Garadin said. “And I’ll move in until all this is settled.”