“I’m sorry,” Serenthia finally said. “I thought we’d find Mendeln for certain.”
“So did I.” However, despite that terrible failure, Uldyssian was not altogether sad. It was not only because he and Serenthia had discovered a new, fascinating ability…but also because they had been drawn together as no two people surely ever had. One glance at her face was enough to tell him that she felt much the same.
Uldyssian immediately shook his head, angry at himself for becoming distracted by such things when his brother was in terrible danger. The attempt, however successful in itself, had failed. That was all that mattered.
Serenthia leaned forward. “Uldyssian—”
He wanted to stay with her, but knew that to do so would keep his mind from fully focusing on Mendeln. With an abruptness that made Serenthia gasp, Uldyssian jumped to his feet and left.
He regretted the action almost immediately, but did not even consider turning back. Uldyssian dared not let himself become distracted again. Only Mendeln mattered…providing it was not already too late.
That thought made him shiver anew. Mendeln gone. First Achilios, now this.
Uldyssian looked up to the dark, shrouded sky, raising a fist at the same time. He wanted to shout, but aware how that would stir up the others anew, forced his voice down to a virulent hiss.
“Damn you, Lilith! Damn you for beginning all this!”
The jungle remained silent, but somehow Uldyssian was certain that she heard his bitter oath…heard it and laughed merrily.
“Don’t…give up…hope…”
The voice was barely a whisper, yet it pierced the fog in his brain. Uldyssian turned about, seeking the speaker…and finding no one.
Brow furrowed, he stared at the emptiness for several seconds, then grimaced. Now, on top of matters, he was imagining voices…or rather, one voice in particular.
Achilios’s.
“Damn you, Lilith…” Uldyssian repeated, seeing in his mind both his brother and the dead archer. “If Mendeln’s gone, too…”
But he had no threat against her in which, at the moment, even he believed.
8
They remained in the area the next day…and the next after that. Uldyssian did not sleep once, fearing that any respite would lessen his chances of finding Mendeln. The longer his brother remained missing, the longer the odds that Mendeln was still alive.
Saron and Romus, accompanied by Tomo and a small mix of other Parthans and Torajians, finally dared approach him late on the succeeding day. They found Uldyssian where he often was, standing at the edge of the camp with eyes shut and hands curled into fists. Around him, noticeable only to the eyes of edyrem, glowed a silver aura.
The aura vanished before either of the first two could summon the courage to speak. Uldyssian turned to face the group.
“Tomorrow…” he muttered. “If nothing by then…I promise it’ll be tomorrow.”
Saron, thin and wiry, bowed low. “Master Uldyssian, it is not that we wish to abandon your brother…if Tomo, who is like a brother to me, were missing, I would search just as you do, but—”
“But searching the same ground over and over and over is futile. I understand, Saron. I can’t risk everyone else by forcing them to wait here.” He looked among those who had come, both men and women. These were many of his most promising, with enough control now to be a threat to the majority of human foes. Even perhaps a morlu or a lesser demon. Yet, they were lost without him.
“Tomorrow,” he repeated, starting to turn back to the jungle. “Thank you for understanding.”
The Parthans nodded while most of Saron’s people bowed. As they trudged off, Uldyssian refocused his efforts. There had to be somewhere or something that he had missed. Some clue that whatever had taken Mendeln had left behind.
But continually he came up empty-handed. Finally, as the sun set, Uldyssian retired to eat. He did not even notice of what his meal consisted, his attention entirely on seeking some new course of action.
Belatedly, Uldyssian noticed that Serenthia sat across from him. Since his wordless departure from her, they had stood apart. He knew that she would have liked to have been with him, even comforted him, and the fact that he felt the same ripped at his heart. Yet, for more than one reason, the son of Diomedes refused to give in to such things.
He went back to searching as soon as his food was gone. Taking his cue from the effort he and Serenthia had put in together, Uldyssian let his mind reach out far beyond what his eyes could see.
Alone, he could not survey the jungle in quite so dramatic a fashion as the two of them had, but still Uldyssian felt certain that he covered the areas that he studied as thoroughly as possible.
But still he did not find even so much as a hint of what had happened.
In the end, there remained only one other hope, something that he had not wanted to attempt for it endangered not only him. However, it was the single possibility that Uldyssian thought at all yet likely.
And so, stretching himself to his limits, he reached out to the distant ruins…and that which lurked among them.
The effort proved not quite the strain Uldyssian had believed it would be. He could only assume that perhaps his efforts with Serenthia had further unfettered the potential of his abilities. Uldyssian marveled at this, even as his thoughts propelled him within range of the demonic presence’s ancient abode.
But once there, Uldyssian immediately noticed the lack of any sign of Mendeln. More curious, he also noticed how faint the specter’s trace was, so much so that at first he could not even sense it. If the presence was the source of his brother’s disappearance, surely Mendeln could have easily fought back against such paltry power.
Nonetheless, Uldyssian continued to probe the ruins. As he did, he finally sensed the presence stir somewhat…but without radiating any of the violent emotion from the first encounter. In fact, it was almost as if the demon now wished to relay something to him.
To enable it to do that, though, would require Uldyssian to let down some of his guard. He studied his adversary as best he could, sensing only weakness…and urgency. There was no hint of threat. At last, desperate to find some clue, however remote, Uldyssian relented.
But as he began to open himself up, someone suddenly shook his physical form. Immediately, the ruins—and their malevolent inhabitant—receded into the dark…and Uldyssian found himself once more poised at the edge of the camp.
Serenthia stood beside him, her eyes wide with fear. “Uldyssian! Are you mad? I nearly didn’t break the link between you in time!”
“I finally had some hope!” he snapped back, registering what she had done. “A clue to Mendeln—”
“Not from that evil thing! Think! Why would it tell you anything to help you? Why?”
He started to reply, then hesitated. Uldyssian had no good explanation and the more he thought about it, the more he knew that Serenthia’s point had much merit. Why would the creature do anything to assist in the hunt? In his desperation, it was very likely that all Uldyssian had been doing was giving the demonic presence a chance for vengeance against him.
And, after that, surely it would have once more tried for Serenthia…
Running his fingers through his hair, he muttered, “You’re right. Damn it, you’re right, Serenthia…”
“I’m sorry. Really I am.” She looked deep into his eyes. “You’ve done everything for Mendeln that you could…that anyone could. What more is there?”