“And did you notice anything unusual about the birds when you examined them?”
The man shook his head. “They seemed unharmed, with no physical evidence of madness.”
Alena ran her eyes over the crowd, picking up on the hand signs and whispers. Reason warred with trust among the elders.
The speaker was dismissed and another took his place. This Etari was a woman, who stood tall before the elders.
“Three months ago, I left our camp with my partner for the evening. We wished to be alone under the stars. On our walk, we startled a deer, who attacked us. My partner was speared by the deer’s antlers, and he died soon after.”
And so it went, a litany of stories of animals and nature acting in ways that were unfamiliar to the Etari. Each story, by itself, could be explained. But the larger pattern couldn’t be ignored.
Alena and Azaleth were eventually summoned. Azaleth told their story while Alena watched the crowd. She saw several signs where she was called a traitor, but she kept her face neutral.
The elders questioned Azaleth. When they finished, they turned to her. “Do you have any explanation for the stories you have heard today?”
“None,” she replied.
There was a snort of outrage behind her, but she refused to turn. “It’s an imperial plot, a prelude to an invasion.”
The elders didn’t dismiss the idea, but focused it on her. “What do you think of that?”
Alena made the sign for uncertainty. “It doesn’t feel right, but I don’t know what abilities the empire possesses.”
“You’d trust the word of an imperial?” The same voice, again behind her.
Such interruptions were rude, and an elder finally called it out. “She’s lived among us for years. Sooni granted her a gatestone four years ago. By our traditions, she is one of us. Like it or not, it is true. I’ll not suffer such disrespect.”
Alena felt her cheeks go red, and she felt the gatestone, embedded near her navel. Sooni had granted her the stone after a long series of tests. When she’d received it, Alena had felt as proud as she had through any accomplishment in her life. It was the only reason she possessed the affinities she did. But now it felt like a weight. She didn’t want to be here. Azaleth could have told the story just as well by himself, and wouldn’t implicate the empire just by his presence.
They were dismissed, replaced by yet another testimony. Alena practically hid behind Azaleth as the afternoon continued. She still felt the angry glares of some of the other clans.
Anders I had waged war on the Etari during the War of Unification. Alena had never been clear on why he hadn’t conquered the Etari. The empire had far more resources, far more people, far more everything than the Etari. Yet the land remained in Etari hands.
The war had devastated the Etari people. At least, that was what Alena’s history books had taught her. The war had driven them to the barbaric existence they now lived.
Alena didn’t believe the imperial histories anymore, though. The Etari didn’t like the empire, but in true Etari fashion, they only blamed themselves for their failure. Any imperial who crossed the border was killed, which led to no end of skirmishes. Bold traders often cut through Etar in a bid to deliver their goods more quickly to other parts of the empire. Beyond the resulting skirmishes, the Etari seemed to consider the empire something closer to an obnoxious older brother than an enemy. Alena had never quite figured the attitude out.
But they didn’t live like savages. She knew that as a certainty, now. Their lifestyle was certainly different, but it was just as much a civilization as the empire.
The testimonies continued, strange event piling on top of strange event. The world was becoming an odd place, Alena decided. But it didn’t look like the elders were going to make any decisions today. They were just collecting information.
Alena heard a commotion coming from outside the tent. She turned just in time to see a young man enter, a messenger. He was out of breath, sweat pouring from his forehead. The whole crowd gathered around the elders and went silent.
After a moment, the messenger stood up. “Elders, hear my news!”
He paused to catch his breath.
“Invasion!”
45
Brandt, Ana, and the other monks left Landow the next day, separating just outside of town. Thanks to the horses and supplies, Brandt felt confident their mission could be completed quickly. He was certain that they would be able to scout their section of the northern shore and be back to Landow within a month.
He found that he was of two minds about the expedition. There was no doubt that strange events were occurring more regularly, and he did fear they were precursors to something worse. On the other hand, it seemed almost impossible to accept that not only was there a second continent on the planet, but that the people of that continent might be attempting to land an invasion force upon imperial land. His rational mind simply didn’t accept it easily.
So he relaxed into his saddle and enjoyed the trip with his wife. He couldn’t remember the last time he had been on a horse, but the skills he once earned in the military soon came back to him. The first day of riding was rough, but eventually they adjusted.
They traveled northwest, heading toward the Etari border. This far north, the Alna river was a wide border and largely unguarded. The Etari had always known when someone crossed the river, a feat no military strategist had ever explained. And the Etari never left their land this far north.
They found the river on the fourth day and followed it all the way to the coast. From there, their path took them further north, gradually curling toward the east. Riding filled their days, and at night they relaxed under
