“We should train,” Cree said. “Look at us. We need a fight, to shake off our uncertainties, if nothing else.”
“Will the guards let us?” Skagi asked.
“Agny said we have the freedom of the village,” Ashok said. His mouth twisted in a smile. “I doubt she’ll mind us trying to cut each other up.”
“Who’s cutting me up?” Skagi said, raising a hand to his ear as if he’d gone deaf. “Did I hear a challenge in those words?”
“You did,” Ashok said. “Though how you could hear anything over the sound of your own bellows …”
“Oh, it
The easy banter distracted and comforted Ashok for a time. He trained with Skagi and Cree for hours, until his muscles were on fire and his hands throbbed from the stinging vibration of metal on metal every time their weapons came together. He stopped later only to check on the nightmare stabled behind Reina’s hut.
He saw the healer had been near the nightmare’s stall recently. She’d drawn a circle in the dirt around it and lined the outside with symbols. Bundles of sticks tied with heather were placed at four points around the circle. Ashok saw smoke rising from three of the bundles. The fourth was a blackened lump, the twigs nearly consumed by fire.
The nightmare stood at ease within the circle. Only his smoldering eyes betrayed his rage at the indignity of being kept like a common stable horse. Ashok felt the hate coursing through the stallion. He recognized the emotions as being separate from his own, but he felt them no less strongly for having that knowledge.
A soft gasp made Ashok spin, his hand on his chain. He relaxed when he saw the other masked witch, Sree, standing at the stable door. The shallow light filtering behind her made her appear a walking shadow. Her mask obscured all emotion, and Ashok could not see her eyes. It unsettled him, the idea that he would never know, when these witches approached, if they meant him peace or harm.
“I didn’t mean to disturb you,” Sree said. Ashok detected no threat in her voice, only calm strength tinged with curiosity. “I came to reinforce the circle. It seems I’m just in time.”
“He won’t hurt anyone,” Ashok said. “That’s not what he’s here for.”
The witch chuckled softly and without humor. “Listen to your words. Its presence harms all who come near it. What if a child wandered in here and found the protective circle broken? What if your beast chose that moment to vent its hatred with a scream?”
The truth of the rebuke pierced Ashok. “Forgive me, I-”
The witch held up a hand. “We need not talk of forgiveness. Let me offer you a warning instead. I see the connection between you and this creature, like a black thread that joins you breast to breast. The longer you stay together, the thicker the strand will grow. You already sense it, don’t you?” she said, reading his expression.
Ashok nodded. “I feel what he feels. Sometimes it’s as if I can read his thoughts.”
“Don’t be alarmed by this,” Sree said, “for it can work in your favor, if you allow it.”
“How?”
“Just as you feel its hatred and rage-and are sometimes infected by it-so too can it feel the emotions in your heart. When you show mercy and compassion, it forces the nightmare to experience the same feelings. You can use them to influence him.”
It made sense, and it explained how, out on the Shadowfell plain, the nightmare had been able to shake off the effects of the madness. He had Ashok’s emotions to draw upon to bring him back to sanity.
“But he can also influence me,” Ashok said, “can’t he?”
“Yes,” Sree said. “That is why I warn you-the longer you allow this evil thing to be your companion, the more it becomes part of you. Or maybe I am misguided in my warnings? Maybe that is what you want?”
“No,” Ashok said. “I don’t, but I’m afraid it might be the only way.”
Sree chuckled again. “You do have the air of inevitability about you, shadow man.” She bent and whispered a prayer over the blackened twigs, then threw them in a corner. She laid a fresh bundle in their place and continued around the circle, praying and strengthening the offerings. The smoke rising from the twigs gradually dissipated.
“Agny told me you were training Yaraella to cope with her gifts,” Ashok said. “She said you were a skilled teacher. Does that mean you’re close to the spirit world as well?”
“My sister hathran speaks too highly of me,” Sree said, but Ashok could tell by her tone she was pleased at the praise. “My gifts are nothing like Yaraella’s were. Yet I am known among my sisters for having much patience and control. There is very little in this world or the spirit realm that surprises or frightens me.”
“Except Ilvani,” Ashok said.
The hathran’s eyes widened behind her mask. “You’re mistaken,” she said sharply. “I don’t fear your witch, shadow man, and you’re impertinent to say so.”
Ashok shrugged. “I saw the way you looked at her. Something about her unsettles you, whether you admit it or not.”
Sree walked around the circle again to check it, but Ashok thought she was stalling. Her movements had an edge of anger. All the while, the nightmare watched them both, his red eyes speculative.
Sree sighed and said, “You’re right. She does disturb me. She’s too much like Yaraella. I never thought I would see another with her power, unless Elina grows up to share her gifts. Surely she is an oddity among your people?”
“She-” Ashok hesitated. “Yes. We don’t always understand her. On our journey, Ilvani said she kept seeing owls. I saw her look at the sky so many times, but there was never anything there.”
Sree’s eyes softened. Ashok imagined she might be smiling behind the mask. “Remarkable. A rare breed of brown owl used to inhabit the pinewoods in this area. I’d nearly forgotten. They had all died out by the time I was born. My mother used to collect their feathers, which were often used as quills. Sadly, many of the quills remain, even though all the owls are gone.”
Her words triggered a memory in Ashok’s mind-the day he’d taken Ilvani to Darnae’s shop. “That’s what she said.” He spoke half to himself. “Ilvani looked at Darnae’s quill racks and told her the owls were all gone.” Ashok hadn’t understood a word of it, but Darnae had. She’d understood Ilvani after knowing her for only a few minutes. Ashok had known her for months and hadn’t gotten as far.
Ashok felt suddenly so useless. He tried to recall everything Ilvani had ever said to him. He’d been so arrogant to think that her words were meaningless, when all the time there was truth in them that he’d just been too blind to see.
“Some in Ikemmu call her the mad witch,” Ashok said, remembering Skagi’s words when they’d rescued Ilvani from Ashok’s enclave. “Some call her a prophet.”
“What do you call her?” Sree asked curiously.
“Neither,” Ashok said.
“That’s for the best. It means she can turn to you,” Sree said. “We all turn to the people who see us most clearly.”
“I’ve done little enough for her on that score,” Ashok said, “but I’ll do everything I can to protect her from Yaraella’s monster during the ritual. Nothing will harm her if I can prevent it.”
“Bold words,” Sree said. “You should have faith in her god and ours to watch over this endeavor.”
Ashok laughed without humor. “You ask for the one thing I can’t give,” he said. “Why should we trust Tempus and Bhalla to favor us? What have they done thus far to ensure Ilvani’s safety or Yaraella’s peace? Your witch took her life because she couldn’t bear her gifts. Mine has lived through a hell that would break lesser men. You say they’re close to the spirit realm-that makes them closer to their gods than all of us.” Ashok was aware of his voice rising, but he couldn’t stop the words or the anger. “Tell me, who is more deserving of protection than they? Yet here we sit, you and I, whole and sane”-he laughed again bitterly-“or at least as sane as can be expected, while the ones we care about die or lose pieces of themselves. What can we truly expect from the gods?”
“Nothing,” Sree said simply.
“A poor answer,” Ashok said, his tone sullen.
“A true answer,” Sree corrected him. “It’s not for us to know the gods’ will. Human or shadar-kai-all we can do is live our lives, make the best choices we can, and accept that we can’t control everything.”
