“I want answers…”
“You won’t get them from me. Only Aurellia can give you answers, so you’ll have to be patient.”
“No…you can tell me who he is…how long have you been studying with him?”
Rikar’s face contorted to a snarl, glancing down at Talis’s fire sword now positioned over his heart. “You really want to do this? You think you can beat me with that sword?”
“I just want answers…you owe me that at least.”
“Aurellia is my true master of magic…his knowledge and abilities are beyond any of the wizards in Naru.”
“And how did you find him?”
A pained sigh escaped from Rikar’s lips. “After my father was killed, I kept having nightmares of my father tortured in the Underworld. I visited the Temple of Zagros, begging mercy for my father, but the nightmares continued. Once at midnight I bumped into a robed figure worshipping at the Temple. I was surprised, because I’d rarely seen anyone there. I asked the person if he was a temple priest and he chuckled, saying perhaps in a way he was.
“The man asked me why I had come here, so I told him my story… It turned out that the man was Aurellia, one of the most powerful magicians in the world. He helped stop my nightmares and once he knew my abilities at magic, he took me in as his apprentice…”
“But who is Aurellia, really? Where does he come from?” Talis released his grip and lowered his sword.
Rikar shook his head, eyes dark and mysterious. “You’ll have to ask him that yourself.”
“So we go on, continue our quest and act as if nothing has happened?”
“Nothing has happened…yet. Once we get to the island, things will change, I can promise you that. And perhaps you’ll have your opportunity to find the answers you seek from Aurellia…”
The Surineda Map led them to the island and yet Talis felt like it was a trap waiting to spring. He couldn’t trust Rikar, and he didn’t feel like he could trust Aurellia either. But that island was where the map led them and he could feel the power waiting for them, the power of the sun, the power of the Goddess Nacrea.
Talis turned his back on Rikar and walked back to camp, his mind filled with thoughts.
The next morning Lenora glanced at Talis as if she sensed something had changed overnight. Mara noticed also and sent him a look that said, What’s going on?
He motioned Mara to follow him over to the river and they sat behind an upturned tree stump.
“You look like you slept in a pile of leaves.” Mara brushed a strand of hair from his face.
“After everyone was asleep, Rikar snuck off…to meet the sorcerer from the desert.”
Mara’s face paled in disbelief. “The one who slew all the undead?”
Talis lowered his voice and leaned in closer to Mara. “I followed Rikar last night to the river. The sorcerer… Aurellia, he’s…he’s some kind of a terror. But Rikar told me he’s studying with him…since his father’s death.”
“Rikar’s changed, ever since his father was killed on the hunt.”
“Who is this sorcerer?” Lenora said, jumping over the stump, her eyes filled with mischievousness.
Talis bolted upright, startled. “You…you followed us here?”
“This doesn’t involve you,” Mara said, bringing a dagger out, glaring at Lenora.
Lenora frowned and sat back against the trunk. “It does now, now that my fate is intertwined with yours. I’m not frightened of your pitiful weapons. Now, who is this sorcerer you speak of?”
“We don’t need to tell you a thing,” Talis said.
“I have ways of finding the truth…gazing into your eyes will tell me more than your lips would ever reveal.” Lenora’s eyes changed to silver and her pupils widened until they shone bright. Talis felt dizzy, as if he were spinning down into some dark chasm. He pictured Aurellia, slaying the undead in the desert, and Aurellia again, talking with Rikar by the river.
Lenora shrieked, startling Talis awake. He glanced around, spotting Mara sitting on top of Lenora, her daggers pricking the side of Lenora’s delicate neck, until a line of blood dripped down.
“Get her off of me!” Lenora shouted, wriggling underneath Mara.
“If you continue moving, these pitiful weapons, as you called them, are going to do a lot more damage. Now what were you doing to Talis, you witch… Casting some kind of charm, a truth reveal spell?”
Lenora’s body stiffened, and a look of triumph crossed her face. “I knew something was strange about your story. People rarely survive attacks from Jiserians… So this sorcerer, Aurellia, is connected with your friend Rikar? And you saw this Aurellia last night? Why is he following?”
Talis gaped at Lenora in disbelief, how did she know Aurellia’s name? Did mystics have the power to read minds? “Talk to Rikar about that… But if you try that trick on me again, you’ll wish you hadn’t. We’ll take you as far as Khael, you have family there, right?”
Lenora pursed her lips, as if greatly displeased. “You want to get rid of me, don’t you?”
She climbed over the stump and stormed off, her dress swishing back and forth.
“We’ll need to watch her,” Mara said. “She’s a witch. All those tears for her father…now it’s as if she’s forgotten about him completely.”
“Now she’s gone to Rikar…she’s talking to him.“
“Flirting with him is more like it, and it’s working. Why do girls resort to such trickery?” Mara scowled, then blinked as if remembering something.
“This morning, I woke up and heard Rikar mumbling to himself. It didn’t make sense. He said, ‘I obey, master, to Darkov…under the temple, Zagros commands.’ What does that mean?”
“I’ve never heard of Darkov, a city perhaps?”
“Look on the map. You can read the runes, right?”
Talis glanced back at camp, making sure they were all there. He withdrew the map from the case and stretched it out. Immediately the map lit up, symbols and markers glowing as if on fire. All over his body, his skin tingled from holding the map.
“There’s Lorello,” Mara pointed. “But the island is so small on the map…”
“I wish we could see more detail.” As if responding to his desire, the map changed, and now displayed a larger view of the island. New markers appeared. “This one says ‘Seraka’, along the coast.“
“And this one, over here?” To the south and east lay an immense marker, and within, a shimmering golden triangle.
“Urgar…and this one is the Temple of the Goddess Nacrea, our destination.”
“What about this?” She tapped a city to the north, shrouded in mist.
“Darkov…”
18. INTRIGUE IN KHAEL
After three days of hard riding, Talis and the others gazed over the city of Khael. The city was nestled in the side of a cleft overlooking the mystical Melovian Sea. The ocean glimmered as if enchanted by the Goddess Nacrea. Talis had dreamed about seeing the ocean ever since his father told him bedtime stories of his youth along the fair seas of Onair. How he missed his family and his home…
High above the city of Khael, sandstone spires ran along the mountain ridgeline like a dragon's spine. The sun lingered low on the horizon, painting the countryside in shades of violet and gold. A tower rose from the highest point in Khael, next to the cliffs, part of a palace that glimmered from the last rays of sunlight. He caught sight of a shadow cast from a low cloud floating over the harbor, a shadow that sent crooked fingers spidering across the rooftops. He gripped his reins tighter and prodded his horse on.
“I don’t like how it looks,” Mara said. Other than the palace and the surrounding compound, the rest of the city was a dark hovel. The difference between the two areas was startling. Along the docks and leading up towards the hills, old dilapidated buildings and crumbling earthen homes were crammed in so close together, Talis could hardly spot any streets. The town was heavily guarded with soldiers marching in many places throughout the city, with a large contingent stationed near the palace. Outside, no guard posts or walls or patrols of any kind protected Khael. It was as if the government had no interest in keeping people out. This struck Talis odd, a stark contrast with Naru’s enormous walls and regular patrols.
