“Yes, Lord Uwan,” Chanoch said at once, and Skagi and Cree were quick to add their assent.
“I will consider it,” Vedoran said.
Ashok looked at Uwan. He had not expected such a proposal at all. He felt off balance, as if everyone in the room knew more than he did. A journey outside Ikemmu? He’d not been outside the city’s walls since the day he’d tried to escape.
“Will you consider this mission, Ashok?” Uwan repeated, when the silence stretched.
“Yes,” Ashok said uncertainly. He didn’t know what to think.
“Thank you,” Uwan said. He addressed Natan. “Will you tell them, my friend?”
The cleric nodded and cleared his throat. “Thank you for agreeing to hear Uwan’s request,” he said. “My own tale is a simple one. I am a servant of Tempus, and I have been blessed with the gift of Sight. The warrior god has chosen to grant me visions of what will come to pass in Ikemmu’s future.”
He paused. Ashok felt Vedoran stiffen beside him. He stared down at the table, his black gaze boring holes in the map.
“Several nights ago, Natan received such a vision,” Uwan said. “Tempus showed him that Negala has returned to the plain.”
“The bog witch?” Skagi said. “Close to Ikemmu?”
Uwan shook his head. “Many miles distant,” he replied. “The city is in no immediate danger.”
“Who is Negala?” Chanoch asked.
“That’s right, you’re probably too young to know her,” Skagi said, which made Chanoch’s face flush with embarrassment. “She’s a hag, a creature twisted by the shadows.”
“She’s like the nightmare, in human form,” Ashok said quietly. He remembered his father telling him a tale of encountering the witch. Her bog was merely an illusion, a part of her mind she could alter at will.
Uwan looked at him sharply. “You know Negala?” he said.
“No,” Ashok said. “But I know what she is. She moves her swamp around the Shadowfell according to her whim. She’s an annoyance, nothing more.”
“Bog may be an annoyance, but you can still die in it,” Skagi said.
“Agreed,” Uwan said. “She must not be underestimated, as this mission will take you straight across her domain.”
“Why?” Vedoran spoke up.
“Shall I tell them?” Uwan said, speaking to Natan.
The cleric shook his head. “If you please, my Lord, I’ll do it,” he said. Natan leaned back in his chair, and the lines on his face made him look ancient, though Ashok guessed he couldn’t be much older than himself.
“A little over a month ago,” Natan said, “a decision was made that instead of dispatching an entire caravan to search the Shadowfell for beasts to capture and train, it was more feasible to send out a smaller scouting force to search for hunting grounds, watering holes, anyplace the shadow beasts might be likely to gather. Such a force could range farther than a caravan and be able to return to the city faster with its intelligence.
“We sent out a band of ten shadar-kai,” Natan said. “Our best scouts. One of them was my sister, Ilvani. Their party disappeared. They never returned to the city.”
Natan paused as if to gather himself. Uwan continued in his stead. “We dispatched patrols to search, but their trails went cold. No bodies were ever found. I believe, and Tempus has confirmed it in Natan’s vision, that some or all of the party are still alive. They were taken prisoner.”
“You believe Negala has them?” Vedoran asked.
“No,” Natan said. “I saw the hag’s lands in my vision, but Tempus pointed me beyond them. Somewhere on the other side of the bog is where we will find our people.”
“We’ve had wizards watching with farseeing spells, waiting to see any sign of Negala’s bog,” Uwan said. “Patrols have been ranging far out from the city, and a few days ago, they saw the bog had appeared.”
“Where?” Skagi asked.
“Five or six days journey north,” Uwan said, indicating the map. “We don’t know how large Negala’s domain is-it could be a stone’s throw or miles of treacherous land. Your mission, then, is twofold: go to the surface and cross Negala’s domain in safety, and once on the other side, find the missing party and return them to Ikemmu.”
Uwan fell silent, waiting for their response. Gradually, Ashok heard Chanoch, Skagi, Cree, and Vedoran accept the mission one by one, but Ashok didn’t speak. He was staring at the map, comparing the landmarks in his mind with the journey north to Negala’s bog.
The Aloran Tor. But he’d been running from the hounds long before he’d stopped in the mountain’s shadow. They’d chased him away from the enclave and his father’s confrontation with the party that had been approaching the caves.
Hemmed in from both sides. The hounds … and Ikemmu’s scouts.
“Ashok,” said Uwan.
Dazed, Ashok looked up. The leader regarded him half in expectation, half hope.
“Natan hasn’t told you the rest of his vision,” Uwan said. “Perhaps that will influence your decision. Natan?”
“Yes,” Natan said. Ashok thought he spoke with reluctance. “Before you came to the city, Ashok, Tempus showed me a vision of your face. I knew you, before you came here.”
“I don’t understand,” Ashok said. But he was beginning to, and it frightened him more than anything ever had.
Uwan said, “Tempus foretold your coming, Ashok. We believe He sent you to us to find our people. He’s chosen you to aid us.”
“But I am not his servant,” Ashok said, aware of Vedoran’s tense posture beside him. He could feel the heat of the shadar-kai’s gaze.
“It doesn’t matter,” Uwan said. “Tempus has chosen to work through you. Will you answer His call?”
The silence in the chamber was unendurable as everyone waited for Ashok to form an answer. How could they expect so much, when Ashok couldn’t find a coherent thought?
For a moment, Ashok wondered if he was still locked in a strange and terrible dream and just didn’t know it. They were asking him to seek out and rescue a party of shadar-kai that had likely been attacked and slaughtered by his father, his brothers and other warriors who’d once fought beside Ashok.
His enclave relied on secrecy to protect their domain. They didn’t take prisoners. Yet Natan insisted that some or all of them were still alive, so something must have changed in Ashok’s absence.
But if he told them the truth, if he revealed that he’d led shadow hounds away from his enclave so its warriors could more easily capture and kill Ikemmu’s citizens … he was as good as dead.
All those thoughts converged in his mind, and Ashok felt lost. The silence dragged on. They were all staring at him, he could feel it.
Finally, he couldn’t stand it any longer. “May we speak in private?” he asked Uwan.
The leader must have seen the desperation in Ashok’s eyes. He nodded at once. “Of course,” he said. “Would the rest of you excuse us, with my thanks?”
Chairs scraped back as Natan and Ashok’s companions left the table. Vedoran was the last to leave. He got up stiffly and headed for the door.
“Vedoran,” Uwan called to him.
“Yes, my Lord?” Vedoran answered. His tone came off unmistakably cold, though Uwan didn’t appear to notice.
“You will lead the party,” Uwan said.
“My Lord?” Vedoran replied.
Ashok raised his head. Vedoran’s face was like a mask that had cracked at the edges. He’d never seen the shadar-kai look so shocked.
“You’re an exceptional warrior,” Uwan said. “The others are skilled, but they lack your discipline and grace. I trust you to guide them on this journey.”
Vedoran bowed at the waist. “I will, my Lord. My thanks,” he said fervently.
When he’d gone, Uwan put his palms flat against the tabletop. He studied Ashok’s face. Ashok couldn’t imagine what he read there, but after a breath, Uwan smiled slightly.
“Are you afraid?” he asked.
Ashok swallowed. The emotions he was experiencing were unlike anything he’d ever dealt with before. His heart beat an unsteady rhythm in his chest. He was in no danger of fading, yet he felt as if he was. That was the best way he could describe his fear. “Yes,” he said.