demons had been keeping a burst of speed in reserve, and now they rushed forward. Acting on instinct, Sinjin reached out to the energy around him, energy that he knew existed and that his parents could access. He, too, should be able to access it, he presumed. Trying to remember to breathe, he reached out with his fingers and tried to grab on to it with his mind, as his mother had always said. It had been a long time since he had tried to access Istra's powers, but never had he tried when his life depended on it. That was how his mother had come into her powers, and perhaps that was what it would take for his abilities to manifest. Given his encounter with the assassins, it seemed unlikely, but there was nothing else he could do but try.
Crying out and thrusting his arms forward, Sinjin released the accumulated charge. A small spark leaped between his outstretched fingers, and there was a light crackling sound, but his efforts yielded no other effect.
Trinda just stared at him and said nothing.
His face flushed and his pride deeply bruised, Sinjin turned to her. 'Is there anything you can do? I'm sorry. I failed.'
'You tried,' Trinda said with a shrug. 'I have a little more now. I'll try too.'
Before Sinjin or Brother Vaughn could say another word, Trinda cupped the herald globe, and it grew steadily brighter until it shone like a star, and she threw it as hard and as far as she could. The herald globe sailed high, higher than a girl of Trinda's size should have been able to throw, and Sinjin understood that Trinda's powers continued to manifest, even if his own did not.
Shielding his eyes, Sinjin supposed it would buy them a moment when the demons would be blinded, but without a light to guide them, he wasn't certain how much good it would do them. He didn't have to think about it long. The herald globe ended its flight, and even from a distance, it seemed as if the globe exploded before it ever struck the glossy black stone. A massive burst of energy radiated from it, leveling the demons and sending a wash of angry air over Sinjin, Trinda, and Brother Vaughn.
'By the gods,' Brother Vaughn said. 'What did you just do?' Then he seemed to recall himself. 'Never you mind that question, dear. You saved us. That's what you did.' Still, when Brother Vaughn found a still-slightly glowing and perfectly preserved herald globe at the center of an area where even much of the black rock had been blasted away, he retrieved it with cautious awe. 'Come. We must leave this place. Quickly.'
Chapter 13
The true measure of a person can be seen in the way they treat those less powerful than themselves.
For Sinjin, reaching the end of the stone bridge was like waking from a bad dream only to find himself in a new nightmare. More howls came from behind, and he grunted with exertion as he did his best to give Brother Vaughn a boost. His strength was fading, and Brother Vaughn had to find what toeholds he could to complete the climb. Trinda was much easier to lift, and Brother Vaughn was there to reach down and grab her, but that left Sinjin standing alone at the bottom of a nearly shear face. Down low, the face was smoother and devoid of toeholds. Brother Vaughn took off his outer robe and held it down to Sinjin. With a running start, Sinjin jumped without a great deal of confidence, but fear and adrenaline brought him close to success. With his second jump, he got a grip on the robe. The sound of tearing cloth was nearly as frightening as the sight of Brother Vaughn nearly going over the edge, but the robe held and Brother Vaughn regained his balance.
Even with the robe to hold on to, it was a difficult climb. When Sinjin finally reached the top, he slid down into a heaving and quivering mass.
'I'd let you rest, m'boy, but we've got to go,' Brother Vaughn said, and Trinda showed her agreement by pulling on Sinjin's shirt, her eyes pleading.
Sinjin knew they were right; he could hear more demons coming, and he knew they needed to move, but he could not get his body to respond. He felt Brother Vaughn grab his jacket between the shoulders, and he tried to stand, but he leaned heavily on the already abused monk. Trinda eyed them both with doubt, as if she expected them to collapse at any moment. Sinjin did his best to prove her wrong and, after a few minutes, was able to walk on his own, though he and Brother Vaughn stayed side by side in case either needed help. Trinda walked ahead of them without complaint. The herald globe glowed brightly, as if it had been charged in the sunlight, though not as brightly as it had been when Trinda had fed it her energy.
'Did you give it more?' Sinjin asked Trinda when his strength began to return.
'A little.' She shrugged.
'And was it easy to give it just a little and not everything you had?' Sinjin asked, and Brother Vaughn looked up, awaiting her answer.
Trinda just gave him an annoyed look. 'I didn't have very much.' Her look made it clear she wanted no more questions about that.
Sinjin sighed and wondered if he would ever understand the ways of those with power. It seemed so foreign to him, even though he was part of the most powerful family on Godsland. He'd seen things no one else had, yet he could explain none of it, could feel none of it, and that terrified him. It was a fear he'd carried most of his life, and these days seemed no more likely to bring an answer or solace.
The sights around him would have been met with awe under any other circumstances, but Sinjin barely noticed the carvings and reliefs or the repeating scrollwork along the walls of the gracefully arching halls. Feeling like prey chased into someone else's territory, Sinjin forced himself to move faster, and he found himself offering support to Brother Vaughn, not knowing where he had found the strength.
Walking in a daze, he almost didn't notice the change. It had been gradual, but the light continued to grow until they no longer needed the herald globe to light their way. Brother Vaughn looked as if he wanted the globe back from Trinda, but she put it in the pocket of her dress, and the elder monk said nothing. Hues of amber cast a warm glow on the otherwise cold stone, and Sinjin felt a weight lift from his soul. Even though he could not access Istra's power, he missed the warm radiance of sunlight and, he supposed, the light of the comets as well. His mother always said that the comets were the most beautiful things she had ever seen and that they had not been in the sky when she was young, but for Sinjin, the comets had always been there. Even though there were more than when he was younger, he couldn’t imagine a time without them. They were so commonplace to him, they did not seem so beautiful. Also detracting from their majesty in his eyes was that they seemed more like the force that divided him from his family and had caused most of the bad things that had happened to his mother. If not for Istra's powers, would the Zjhon have ever invaded his homeland?
The beauty of what lay ahead tore Sinjin from his melancholy thoughts. First came the sound of moving water over the rush of a distant fall, then the smell of lush grasses and apple blossoms. Before them waited an underground world that was full of life and wonder. White birds glided in the air over trees that were far wider than they were tall. Though the mighty cavern could have held greatoaks, it seemed most of the vegetation remained closer to the ground. Looking up, Sinjin's breath caught in his chest. A latticework of giant amber crystals formed a vaulted ceiling for the chamber, and these crystals acted as lenses, gathering and intensifying the light from above.
A herd of small deer gathered near a shallow pool for a drink. At first they looked like fauns to Sinjin, so slight were their forms, but several bore small but fully developed racks of antlers. Sinjin wondered what other strange creatures roamed the caverns and how they had come to be there. Then he looked at the waterfall, which cast rainbows about the cavern, and he knew that the river would bring life, though he still wondered about the deer and birds and whatever else might be alive in this place. The land and trees appeared almost manicured. Shadows occasionally moved within the trees. Sinjin did not know if it was merely his imagination, but as they moved closer to the water, his anxiety grew. Still the chance to get a drink of cool, clean water was too good to resist. Mostly ripe apples waited on a nearby tree, and Sinjin picked three, feeling like a thief. As he did, he noticed no apples on the ground nor stray leaves or sticks.
Trinda eyed the apple Sinjin handed her with suspicion and waited for Sinjin to take a few bites of his before she ate it. He couldn't blame her. There was something curious about trees growing inside of a mountain. He
