Terry Simpson - Etchings of Power

“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.”

“You won’t need to. Sakari is going with you. He always knows where I am.” Ryne noted Sakari’s quick glance in his direction. He linked with him. “Stay with them. They may need more protection than I do.”

“As you wish.” Sakari bowed and strode over to Thumper.

After brief goodbyes, Ryne waited in the open plain while they rode away. The line of Setian dipped from sight below a distant hill, and he took out the map. He memorized the wraithwood locations and crossed the field into the forest.

Almost an hour later, Ryne destroyed the last wraithwood manifestation and inspected the area around it. Unlike the other two, fresh paw prints angled deeper into the forest. From the tracks, at least two wraithwolves stalked somewhere within the valley. A screeching wail echoed from farther south. Another answered closer to him within the woods. As expected, the shadelings had sensed his use of Mater.

Battle energy coursing through him, Ryne craned his head to the twin moons’ circular contours between the branches. Stars twinkled like diamond pinpoints. He called on his Scripts, linking with the moonbeams that filtered through the dark canopy and interrupted the dominance of shadow in the forest.

Glancing back down, he picked out the shade residing within all shadow. The malevolent essences beckoned to him, but he knew better than to touch them. Not with the wraithwolves using shade for their eyes and ears. Ryne drew light through his Scripts and pictured himself soaked in its glow. The Scripts responded and did as he requested, swathing him in luminescent essences, giving him the appearance of a ghostly presence. Now that he’d made himself invisible to the wraithwolves’ senses, he mapped the moon rays illuminating the ground and branches around him.

He Shimmered.

With each Shimmer, his Scripts called on light and pulled him to a designated moonbeam. He flew up into the trees, from one patch of light to the other, making certain to avoid the shade. Each Shimmer brought him closer to the wraithwolves. Already linked with the elements around him, he soon found the first one.

The black-furred beast, almost Ryne’s size, stood on muscular hind legs like a man, staring at the trees below. The shadeling whined and snarled, flexing long, oversized arms tipped with sharp claws that dangled past its knees. Glowing green eyes changed from orbs to slits, back to orbs. The wraithwolf’s pungent, moldy stench wafted up to Ryne as he listened to the whines and snarls below for the change in pitch that would tell him the creature sensed his presence. No changes occurred.

Obviously bewildered by Ryne’s disappearance, the wraithwolf stared around for a few more minutes. Another wail sounded from the south. The shadeling Blurred away toward the sound. A smile touched the corner of Ryne’s lips. Unseen among the tree branches, he followed in silence.

The wraithwolf Blurred from the forest into the wide, open plain, and bounded across the long grasses to where its counterpart stalked. The second shadeling was a foot shorter than the first, and loped a few feet to one side then back, first on two legs then on all fours. When the beast dropped onto its arms like forelegs, and then rose again, it sniffed the air and whined.

Ryne frowned. Why would the creatures go into an open field where moonlight reached with ease? The lack of shade within the field played to his advantage. Ryne’s lips curled into a lazy smile. This Skadwaz had to be close by, waiting for Ryne to engage. Ryne reached his senses out, but found nothing unusual other than the wraithwolves. Still, an uneasy prickle raised the hair on his arms.