Maylin's Gate (Book 3) Read online

  "Kelwin, you've seen Lora's research notes. She didn't come right out and say it, but she hinted at a connection."

  Kelwin nodded. "A hint, yes. She said a piece of living heartwood forms a bond with its host, but she never said we could trace the bond like a map."

  She rubbed the bow's surface. "There’s a way. We're just not looking hard enough."

  Kelwin stared at her through bleary, bloodshot eyes. "You can't be serious. We've been at this for weeks. Have you slept at all?"

  "How can I sleep?" Her shoulders sagged. "Kelwin, I let the Heartwood die. I can't let our culture die too. I owe every Ayralen my complete effort. I will bring the grove back to life. The world depends on my effort. How can you ask me to slow down?"

  Kelwin's expression softened. "You saved Lora's Sphere," the warden said. "We'll find a way."

  Tension wrung her shoulders. "What if the plague reaches Freehold?"

  "We're immune," Kelwin said.

  "Are we?" Anger flared behind her eyes. "How do you know? With the Heartwood destroyed, we've nothing left to protect us."

  Kelwin's gaze drifted across the solarium. "Has Trace revealed anything? Any information would help."

  She shook her head. "He's still refusing to talk."

  "You need to press him harder for answers," Kelwin said. "He's probably sitting on an entire heartwood grove."

  The thought had crossed her mind more than once. "Would you trust any information he gave us?"

  "I don't know what to think, but this isn't working." Kelwin stepped away from the workbench. "You've tried every known plant in Meranthia." Kelwin reached inside his belt pouch and pulled free a handful of loose seeds. "And, you've tried the seeds that survived the burning." A look of defeat registered in the warden's eyes. "It's possible the answer died with the forest."

  Kelwin's words knocked loose a rusty memory. One she'd never considered. She flashed a nervous smile and goose bumps raced along her arms and legs. "You're right about that, Kelwin Finn. We've tried every plant in Meranthia and what's left of the Heartwood." She pushed aside glass beakers and clay jars and tossed away bundles of ragweed and dried cattail. Her stomach spun as the object of her search came into view.

  "What are you doing?" Kelwin's gaze locked on the workbench.

  She spotted her worn leather belt pouch caked with waxen pollen. Her heart raced, and she reached for the pouch with a trembling hand. When had she last checked inside? Had she thrown them away? Panic gripped her thoughts, and her fingers tripped over the leather straps. She pried loose the knot on the pouch's front flap and flipped it open.

  Inside, a blue piece of atter crystal reflected the heartwood bow's red light.

  Her heart soared. She hadn't touched the pouch in a month. She pushed aside the atter crystal and Arber's journal. Resting in a crease, she found it.

  With a shaking hand, she picked free a round black seed and held it high between her fingertips. "We haven't tried this seed. No warden ever has."

  "What kind of seed is it?" Kelwin said.

  "The seed came from Obsith. From a piece of fruit Keely found at an oasis."

  Kelwin inched closer and squinted. "How do you know it won't damage the heartwood?"

  "I don't," she said. How could she without trying? "But, we have to take the risk."

  Kelwin gave a reluctant nod. "I suppose you're right. Let's try it."

  She knelt and nestled the seed deep in the moss layering the solarium floor. She channeled flows of nature magic into the seed.

  A purple stalk emerged from the moss and grew three feet tall before she closed off the flows of energy.

  A dozen fist-sized pieces of waxen fruit hung from the tree's pliable limbs.

  She tugged on the fruit. With a reluctant snap, the stem popped free of the shrub. She held the fruit to her nose and inhaled its sweet aroma.

  "What's it called?" Kelwin said.

  She shrugged. "I don't know, but it's delicious." She twisted the fruit, and it split open spilling clear juice from sweet pink pulp. She offered half to Kelwin. "Here, taste it."

  Kelwin took the fruit and bit into its soft flesh. Clear, fragrant juice dribbled down the warden's chin. Kelwin chewed a moment before swallowing. "I've never tasted anything like it. Sweet but not overpowering. A hint of honey mixed with a light vanilla flavor."

  "Let's hope the heartwood likes it as much as you do." She perched on the stool and held the fruit's pulpy mass over the living heartwood. With a gentle squeeze, she dribbled clear juice over the bow's upper riser.

  The wood’s gold grains swirled around the juice. Nothing noticeable happened.

  She closed her eyes and wove green flows of nature magic through the juice.

  Phosphorescent light sparked to life. Shifting shades of gold and bronze roamed the bow's surface. The heartwood's grains swirled.

  She opened her mind to the heartwood and gasped.

  The wood hummed as if in pure joy. The heartwood pulled the glowing liquid deep into its core.

  "Danielle!" Kelwin gripped her shoulders and laughed.

  Her stomach seesawed and her jaw fell open.

  The heartwood beneath her fingertips shifted and blurred. Her mind raced, and she pushed her thoughts deeper into the heartwood's core.

  Golden light wove with red forming a deeper red grain speckled with pockets of golden pigment. Light burst from the bow's surface and rushed upward toward the glass ceiling.

  She gasped and jerked backward. Beneath her, the stool legs wobbled and she grabbed hold of the workbench. She craned her neck upward tracing the light through the glass.

  Kelwin gasped. "Danielle, look around you."

  Golden flows of energy wrapped her body. At her waist, a rope of energy connected to the heartwood.

  Red and gold light angled through the southwest section of the glass ceiling.

  "It's pointing toward the desert," she said. "I'd bet anything we find a heartwood at the other end."

  "We can follow the thread." Kelwin jumped up and flung the stool away. The warden grabbed hold of an apple tree's lowest limbs and clambered upward.

  Her heart hammered, and she turned her gaze toward the bow. Her legs turned to mush.

  The heartwood's surface dimmed, and the light wrapping her body faded.

  She staggered toward the workbench and gripped its moss covered sides. She tried to force calm through her panicked mind, but found the chore impossible.

  The bow's light faded retreating deep into its core like an ember snuffed out by a heavy downpour.

  Her breathing labored and her hands trembled.

  Kelwin appeared over her shoulder, and green energy swirled in his palm. The warden sent the flows toward the heartwood and wrapped it inside a cocoon of nature magic.

  Her head spun, but she focused her mind into the heartwood. "No...." The word came out as a faint croak. She steadied herself against the workbench.

  Inside the heartwood, emptiness sat like a shallow grave.

  CHAPTER THREE

  A King’s Decision

  In the mountain pass below, a beast wedged ivory tusks between two black boulders. With a twist of its neck, an ice-covered boulder groaned. The rock teetered for a moment then tumbled before smashing into the ground near the animal’s feet.

  Ronan sharpened the field glass’s focus. Other than dragons, he’d never seen any creature to match the beast’s size.

  The hairless gray skinned animal took a step backward. The beast pitched its head upward and moved its wrinkled trunk like a snake.

  Baerinese workers scrambled forward. They affixed a long iron pole beneath the boulder and secured it with an arm-thick length of rope.

  A second beast joined the first. Together, they wrapped their trunks around the pole and lifted the boulder clear of the road.

  The beasts turned and lowered the boulder onto a sled made from tethered pine tree trunks.

  A third creature pulled the sled downslope taking the boulder away from the dig site.<
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  He lowered the field glasses and faced Devery Tyrell. “How long have they been at it?”

  “They’ve worked night and day, for weeks.”

  He raised the glasses to his eyes and followed the piled boulders toward the summit. “How long until they clear the road?”

  “At the rate, they’re going?” Devery said. “Another week. Ten days at most.”

  “We need to act now,” Connal lowered his own set of field glasses and faced him. “We can’t allow them through the pass. If we do, they’ll slaughter everyone from here to Freehold.”

  He stared down at the pass without speaking.

  A long line of baerinese workers sifted through the rubble and debris clogging the road.

  “Aren't we above slaughtering their women and children?" Devery said.

  “What do you suggest,” Connal said. “Should we just lay down and let them roll over us?”

  He held his tongue. Would slaughtering the baerinese make him a monster? Would it make him the same as Gabriel?

  Devery’s expression turned icy. “I’m not suggesting that Mister Prime Guardian. I only mean —”

  “Did you see what the obsith did to the Heartwood?” Anger flashed behind Connal’s eyes. “And, they were human. Can you imagine what those monsters would do to humanity?” The Prime Guardian gestured toward the baerinese huddled in the valley below. “I haven’t even mentioned the witch raising our dead women and children. She’s turned them into abominations.”

  “How do either of you propose we stop them?” He faced his father. “We’re down to a handful of knights and guardians, and I won’t order our soldiers anywhere near the witch.”

  Connal’s face turned red, but his father didn’t reply.

  He turned to Devery. “How do you propose we stop them without killing them? They don’t appear ready to negotiate a truce.”

  Devery glanced at Connal and back to him. “The shield you built over Freehold. If you place a similar shield in the mountain pass, they would have no choice but to negotiate a surrender.”

  Could he repeat what he did in Freehold? He wasn’t sure how he’d built the shield. He faced his father. “Do you feel the same way? Do you think I should turn soul energy against the baerinese?”

  Connal gave a short hard nod. “Yes. That’s exactly what I think you should do.”

  “You’d have me do that?” He said. “Slaughter women and children just like the witch?”

  Connal’s gaze dropped to the ground.

  “I don’t think your father meant it quite that way,” Devery said.

  “I don’t know where the magic came from or how to control it,” he said. “That day in Freehold. It almost killed me. Did you know that?”

  “I didn’t know that, Your Majesty,” Devery said.

  “What if I kill innocent people? Did either of you consider that possibility?”

  Devery and Connal remained silent.

  He walked to the cliff’s edge and stared at the gray beasts lumbering down the slope pulling loads of heavy rock. He felt a strange kinship with the animals. He carried his own set of burdens. He half-glanced over his shoulder. “I can’t build the shield on my own. I’ll need volunteers.”

  Devery nodded. “I’ll see to it, Your Majesty.”

  “If it doesn’t work, may Elan save us all.” He mumbled the words under his breath.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  A Sleeping Giant

  At the bow's core, faint light pulsed. The red grain, once vibrant, appeared dingy and lifeless.

  Danielle’s head spun. Had she killed the world’s last piece of heartwood? “I….” She started to speak, but the word came out as a guttural slur.

  Kelwin shoved a stool beneath her and eased her down. “The heartwood’s not dead Danielle.”

  Shock washed across her body in waves, but her gaze remained locked on the bow.

  “Take a deep breath and check for yourself,” Kelwin said.

  A kernel of hope sprouted in her stomach. Bracing against the workbench, she gave a short nod and closed her eyes. She took a deep breath. The rich aroma of the solarium’s rare herbs and blooming flowers filled her nose.

  When she opened her eyes, the world no longer spun. She reached toward the bow with her mind and found its center.

  A slow steady pulse beat like a hibernating bear. Dormancy touched the surrounding wood. Not death.

  She took another deep breath, and her shoulders sagged. “What have I done?”

  “Maybe nothing,” Kelwin said. “But I think further experimentation is out of the question.”

  She gave a hurried nod. “Of course.”

  “I’ve wrapped the core with a protective weave, but you might double check my work.”

  She sent flows of nature magic through the wood and around the heart adding a second layer of protection.

  “I tracked the tracer through the ceiling,” Kelwin said.

  She kept one eye trained on the bow, and half-glanced in Kelwin’s direction. “What did you see?”

  “The line arced over Freehold’s southwest walls.”

  “The desert?” she said.

  “It could be,” Kelwin said. “But, there’s no way to be sure.”

  She nodded. The idea made sense. Trace slaughtered the Heartwood knowing about a secret grove in Obsith. Trace held the only hand that mattered. The thought left her nauseated.

  “Trace has the information Danielle. You need to pry answers out of him.”

  “I’ve tried.” Anger welled inside her. “He doesn’t care if I kill him. He won’t talk.”

  “Then you haven’t found the right lever to pull,” Kelwin said.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Every person holds something precious. Find out what Trace covets and exploit the information.”

  She nodded. She’d gone through Trace’s personal possessions many times. Had she overlooked something? Her gaze locked on the dormant heartwood bow. “Kelwin, can you ask Arber to meet me in the heart room?”

  “Arber?”

  “Yes. There’s something he needs to see.”

  CHAPTER FIVE

  War Council

  Tara pressed her white silk dress flat against her legs and stared into the fire blazing in the hearth. Ripool's forefathers couldn't have imagined hosting the baerinese. Nor would they condone their guests plotting to overthrow the monarchy. Yet, she and General Demos would hear the war council's concerns.

  General Andreas paced before the crackling fire. Andreas's long tail flickered from side to side.

  General Pietro peered over a pair of reading glasses. "Your incessant pacing won't help anything,"

  Andreas turned a hard glare on the elder baerinese general. "I'm tired of this sitting and waiting. It's getting us nowhere."

  "The pass —"

  "I know about the pass General," Andreas said.

  Pietro stiffened.

  She folded her hands in her lap. She seldom spoke at council meetings and always let the baerinese speak first. She glanced to her right waiting for General Demos to break up the feud.

  General Demos placed a long-stemmed pipe in a nearby ash tray and turned a steady gaze on General Pietro. "Anton, did you read the quartermaster's report? We're running low on supplies. If we don't reach the mainland soon, we'll face revolt, and our armies will turn on each other."

  "We're almost through the pass," Pietro said. "We all agreed —"

  Andreas's red forked tongue flickered in agitation. "We all agreed a month ago when you assured us, standing in this very room, that your troopers would clear the pass in a week."

  She picked up a porcelain cup brimming with honey tea. "What do you propose General Andreas?"

  Andreas's gaze swiveled to meet hers before flitting away. The general continued pacing not willing to meet her eye. "We should split our armies into three and spread out along the coast." Andreas gestured southward never breaking stride. "I'll take my troopers south and raid the villages along the co
ast. General Pietro will raid the northern coastal villages. General Demos's larger force will stay here and secure Ripool. When the pass opens, they will move inland."

  "What of the sea ice?" She said.

  "Temperatures to the south have warmed, and the ice has retreated," Andreas said.

  Pietro stripped away the reading glasses and tossed aside a map of inner Meranthia. "Your plan will weaken us and stretch out our supply lines. Our ships will make easy targets for the Earth Mother's creatures. We're vulnerable at sea."

  "General Pietro, how much longer until your men clear the pass?" She said. "I want the truth."

  A red hue blossomed on Pietro's thin human-like skin. "As I said a moment ago, we're almost through. Three or four days at most."

  Andreas whirled turning a murderous gaze on Pietro. "You said that a week ago. We —"

  General Demos raised a hand cutting off Andreas. "My scouts report human troop presence in the coastal villages. Soul knights among them. Surely they've taken defensive precautions."

  Andreas's eyes turned wild with excitement. "We've seen major movement in the last three days. Meranthian troops are moving inland. They are securing the towns and villages near Ripool."

  "They'll not reach those villages before we clear the pass," Pietro said. "Our army is strongest in mass. If we're spread too thin, the humans can disrupt our supply chains and defeat us from the air. Might I remind you of the consequence General Andreas?"

  "Don't you think I understand the consequences?" Andreas gripped the high back of a wooden chair. Cracks and pops came from the wood beneath Andreas's knuckles.

  "General Demos, have we any reports of the king's location?" She wanted to avoid Ronan and that cursed silver soul. Facing the king now would lead to disaster. In a month, she would hold better ground and her strength would continue to grow.

  "My draco scouts last reported his location in a seaside village to the south," Andreas said. "No doubt, ordering the Meranthian troops toward Ripool."

  "What's your position General Demos?" She said.

  General Demos puffed from the long-stemmed pipe. A cloud of sweet Meranthian tobacco swirled in the air. "I don't like marching our army through the choke point in the mountain pass."