Gail Martin - The summoner

'"As Bava K'aa spoke the words of binding, there appeared a great light, and the image of the Lady appeared with them within the warding, between Bava K'aa and the Obsidian King, so that when the final words of power were spoken, the spirit of the King was bound to the crystal orb, but the spirit of Bava K'aa the Lady did not permit to pass. We blinked, and the light and Lady were gone. Bava K'aa fell to the floor. We lifted her up and bore her away, as her wounds, though grave, were not mortal. And the orb was given to the sons of Dark Haven to guard, where it remains to this day.'"

"That's it," Tris breathed. "The Soulcatcher."

Kiara looked to him, puzzled. "Soulcatcher?"

Tris told her of the pulsing orb in Arontala's quarters. "I've been afraid that somehow Arontala found a way to bind Kait's spirit," Tris said. "I keep seeing her in my dreams, pressed against a glass prison, calling for me."

Royster was deep in thought. "Dark Haven is a holding on the Principality border of Margolan," he mused. "Foor Arontala came from there."

"Foor Arontala was one of the sons of Dark Haven," a familiar voice said from the shadows. They looked up to find Gabriel standing in the moonlight that streamed through the mullioned windows. "He betrayed us, and stole the orb."

Tris felt a chill that had nothing to do with the winter night. "Can he free the spirit of the Obsidian King?"

"He will try," Gabriel said. "At the Hawthorn Moon. He has great power, and the blood magic he works has strengthened him even further. You must stop him."

"That's half a year away," Tris replied. "The summer solstice."

"When our world and the spirit world have few, if any, boundaries," Royster said quietly.

"I remember the misery that dark wizard brought. This land cannot sustain another mage of his evil," Gabriel replied.

"You knew my grandmother?" Tris asked. The vayash moru nodded.

"She was a great woman," Gabriel said. "And a trusted friend."

"Who are the sons of Dark Haven?" Kiara asked.

Gabriel looked at her, his dark eyes luminous against his pale skin. "The sons of Dark Haven are Those Who Walk the Night," he replied. "Long has Dark Haven been a refuge for out-kind. Longer still has the temple to the Dark Lady in those hills been sanctuary."

"If Arontala was one of the sons of Dark Haven," Kiara said, "then he is-"

"He is vayash moru," Gabriel confirmed.

"But that doesn't make sense," Kiara argued. "The refugees told me that Jared Drayke was trying to exterminate all vayash mora."

"It is the truth," Gabriel replied. "Arontala is a traitor to his kind because he fears us. He believes that were we to act together, we might be successful against him. There is one more thing he fears, even more," Gabriel said, looking at Tris. "He knows now that you are a spirit mage. He, too, would have been able to feel the power you wielded in the Ruune Vidaya. Arontala fears that we would follow you, should you rise against him."

"And would you?" Tris asked neutrally.

"I believe so," Gabriel replied. "Never have my people sworn allegiance to any mortal ruler. We are a solitary lot," he said, licking at his thin lips. "But I have been to Margolan, and I have seen the burned bodies and severed heads of my kind, and of mortals, killed like vayash moru to feed the fear of those around them. If there are any left when you return, my lord, I believe they will follow you."

"I thought Dark Haven was abandoned," Kiara said.

Gabriel shrugged. "When Arontala stole the orb, he rent the foundations of the great house. In the chaos, the lord of Dark Haven died. Since then, the great house has been empty, awaiting the will of the Dark Lady. But what is ten years out of the course of hundreds?" he replied. "There will be another lord."

"What brings you to Westmarch?" Tris asked.

"I came to speak with Mikhail about some dealings in Dark Haven."

"And I imagine you'll want to do some reading on your own," Royster said with a grin. Gabriel smiled, a disquieting expression that made his sharp teeth more obvious. "I once thought that immortality would answer all my questions," he said in a voice laced with ennui. "Now, I learn that it only disproves my answers, and replaces them with more questions."

"If vayash moru are immortal," Carina said slowly, "how can they be destroyed?"

"Immortal is a relative term, my lady healer," he replied. "Years alone will not destroy us. Nor will disease. But immortality is not the same as godhood. I and my kind can be destroyed, by fire and stake and magic, just as all those the Lady names immortal have some weakness, unless they truly be gods."

"So Arontala can be destroyed," Carina said.

Once more, Gabriel shrugged. "I believe so. That he is vayash moru I know without doubt. But what abilities his magic gives him, and what protections his blood rites have wrought, I cannot say. One thing I do know. The power of blood magic comes at a terrible price. Those who use it to gain strength often become quite vulnerable, if a mage knows where to look."

"Before we leave this place, I will make sure you've seen every text that could serve your need, my lord," Royster said to Tris.

"We?" Kiara asked.

Royster grinned. "Of course. I've been waiting for something like this to happen for fifty years. I intend to tutor him in Principality City." He looked at Tris. "Not being a mage and all, I'd do you no good in battle," he said apologetically. "Kessen chose me well-I'm not suited to work that strains the heart. But the head," he said, tapping his forehead, "now that's where I can help. I always had a weakness for the stories of Bava K'aa," he admitted. "I've been scribe to every Sister who has wanted to add to the record over the years. So having me along is just like packing up a good bit of the Library, and a whole lot easier to carry," he said with a wink.

"We would be honored to have your company," Tris replied. "Although I can't promise that the road to Principality City will be safe."

"That's an understatement," Carina murmured.

"I must take leave of you now," Gabriel said, with a courteous bow. "I will see you again. Mikhail is a servant of the Lady; he will be of great help to you. But I warn you," he said gravely, "there are traitors among my kind. Trust no one who is vayash moru unless I send you to them. Arontala's reach is far. Those he has made, and those he has bound, will do his bidding. Do not travel lightly by night."

Then with a rustle of wind, the vayash moru was gone.

ONE EVENING AT the start of their second month at the Library, Tris was working his way through a stack of books in the third-floor study. He glanced up when the door creaked open. To his surprise, Kiara slipped into the room with a teapot in one hand and a small cloth sack in the other.

"May I come in?"

Tris smiled and set aside his book. "Please," he said with a gesture that welcomed her to a chair near the fire. Kiara brought the teapot over and set the cloth sack down on the table, out of which tumbled a piece of crusty bread, a wedge of cheese and a sturdy mug.

"Carina sent me up with some of her headache tea," Kiara said. "Since I was headed this way, Royster added the food-seems he and Kessen got into a row in the kitchen and dinner will be late tonight," she added with a chuckle. She sank gratefully into a chair, and declined his offer of food.

"No thanks. I grabbed a bite for myself while I was in the kitchen," she confessed. "Although I might take a sip of that tea-I have been reading until my eyes feel crossed!"

She paused. "Sister Taru says that Cam and two friends of yours reached a keep of the Sisterhood in northern Margolan."

"They're alive? That's the best news I've heard in a long time," he said.

"Carina was so relieved, I thought she'd never stop crying." She paused. "Taru says that your friends will meet us in Principality City," Kiara added. "She sent them on to start recruiting troops. Cam rode for Isencroft with an elixir to keep the illness from getting any worse. But they can't heal father while the mage lives who cast the illness."