Chapter Fifteen
The side of the cliff sped past as the bird as large as a glider soared up, holding me in its claw. It hovered over the flat surface at the top of the cliff. Somewhere a high-pitched whistle sounded; the bird chittered and lowered me to ground, my feet barely touching when it let go of me. I stumbled forward and landed on my hands and knees.
I bent over, trying to catch my breath. My leather breastplate tightened with every heavy rise of my chest. It was like time halted and the world moved slowly around me until Bastien and Edgar made it up and rushed to me.
Bastien dropped down, panting. “Are you hurt?”
I held up my hand to signal that I wasn’t able to respond.
“Are you all right?” Bastien rested his hand on my back.
“I’m good.” I pushed myself up and tottered on unstable legs.
Edgar dunked his head in a modest three-tier fountain, then rubbed the water across his buzz-cut hair. I hobbled over, plunged a cupped hand into the water, and splashed my face, welcoming the coolness.
Bastien dumped two hands full over his head. “Ah, that feels splendid.”
“My apologies if Kiti scared you.” A woman’s soft voice came from behind us.
I whirled and came face-to-face with Akua, the High Wizard of Veilig’s wife. We had met briefly in Asile when the Wizard Council interrogated Bastien and me about Conemar’s disappearance.
“Kiti?” I looked up to the sky.
“She meant no harm,” Akua said. “All she wanted was to give you a ride up.”
Her kind brown eyes went from me to Bastien. She was beautiful in a cream linen sheath, her black hair tied in intricate braids that wrapped around her head. A thin crystal whistle hung from her neck by a silver chain.
“Bastien, I’m delighted to see you.” She smiled, her lips turning up slightly at the corners and pressing a dimple into her left cheek. “And Gianna. You take a risk coming here. There is a price on your head. We must get you out of sight immediately.”
Edgar shuffled over. “We shouldn’t stay long. If we were found, there would be tough consequences for your haven.”
Akua inspected him. “And who are you?”
“Philip’s guard,” he said. “He had me escape Asile before he was arrested.”
The kindness on her face before had turned into a scowl. “Why have you come to my haven? We have enough troubles to add more to our situation. My husband is on his deathbed. The council is pushing my people to remove Enitan as high wizard and appoint a new one. Half my Sentinels and guards have fallen ill with the disease. We haven’t the strength to aid you.”
“But I can help you,” I said and removed the pouch from around me. “I brought the cure. My nana is a Pure Witch. She gave me the recipe. Your curers can make enough to help your people.”
“How do I know it will work?” The look on her face said that she hoped it would. “It could be poison.”
Bastien took a few steps forward, his stare on her. “Because it was tested.”
“The council sent word that there wasn’t a cure.”
“They lied,” I said.
“Do you mean Conemar or the council?” she asked.
“I believe the two may very well be in agreement with each other,” Bastien said.
Akua uncrossed her arms. “That is my belief, as well. You have an ally in Veilig. Follow me.”
She brought us inside the castle. The rooms were decorated with silver and gold accents, cream-colored furniture, flowy, pale drapes, and colorful walls. She ushered us into one of the rooms facing the sea. Statues rested in every corner of the room. A huge fireplace made out of shells and pearls dominated one of the walls. Across from it was a wide bed that could fit six people in it. Tucked under the covers slept a large man with gray streaking his black hair, and skin the color of ash. He twitched and groaned.
It was like watching a gazelle cross the room as Akua went to the man. She leaned over and kissed his cheek. “My poor lion. He used to be fierce, but gentle. His people love him. He treated them with such kindness. It breaks my heart to see him like this.” And she kissed him again. “Enitan, my love, you will be well soon.”
Edgar fell back into a chair by the hearth, finally showing signs of being tired.
I removed a syringe and a small bottle of the cure from the pouch and joined Akua and Enitan. After assembling the shot like Nana had shown me, I inserted the needle into Enitan’s arm and administered the pink-tinged liquid. Enitan closed his eyes, and I joined Bastien on a small settee across from Edgar.
Akua pulled on a golden rope near the door, and several minutes later, a man with a stern glare, dressed in colorful clothes, entered the room.
She handed him the pouch. “Take this to the curers. It holds what they need to stop the disease.”
“They’ll need my blood, too,” I said.
Her gaze shifted to me. “You should eat. Gain strength before giving your life’s essence away.”
“You don’t have to go to any trouble,” I said. “It only takes a few drops of blood for a hundred cures.”
Edgar gave me the stink eye and rubbed his stomach.
“I am starving, though,” I added.
“Very well.” She nodded to the man, and he promptly left the room.
Akua pulled the drapes across the room, shutting Enitan off from us. She had fish, fruit, cheeses, and breads delivered, and we ate around the small table in front of the hearth. I gobbled down everything but the fish. Not that I had anything against fish, but I preferred them in a tank rather than on my plate.
“Why is there a party going on in my room?” Enitan’s voice came from the other side of the drapes.
The man dressed in colorful clothes dragged the drapes to the other side of the room.
Enitan struggled to get up.
Akua’s face lit up. “Enitan!” She rushed over and helped him sit up against the pillows. “You look better,” she said, relief sounding in her voice.
He struggled to raise his arm, resting his open palm on her cheek. “My love, I’m so sorry I worried you.”
It was as if my spirit elevated to the ceiling at watching Akua and Enitan. Just a little of my blood had saved him.
“Don’t exert yourself,” Akua urged.
“I feel well.” He absentmindedly rubbed his arm where he’d received the shot. “Food smells good. I’m famished.”
“I’ll get you a plate.” Akua crossed the room to the table and piled bread and cheeses on a small plate. There was a hop to her steps as she returned to him and sat on the bed. Lovingly, she fed him small bite after small bite.
I wiped my mouth with one of the cloth napkins on the table and went over to them. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but there is something I need.”
Enitan stopped chewing. “What is it?”
“I must have a drop,” I said with a shrug, “maybe two, of blood from the Fifth Heir’s closest living descendent. It’s needed to stop Conemar from controlling the Tetrad. I can’t tell you any more than that. You’ll have to trust me.”
“And why should I put all my trust in you?” He coughed, and Akua lifted a glass of water to his lips.
Edgar shot to his feet and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “She’s the presage. Not to mention she just brought your people the cure. You’d be dead by tomorrow without her.”
Enitan pushed the glass of water away from him and looked up at Akua. “Is that true?”
“It is,” she said.
He studied my face for a long while before saying, “All right. The oldest living heir of the Fifth is my great-grandfather. He’s nearly five hundred years of age. Lives in the home of the prophets. Koluka will bring you there.”
“Thank you,” I said. “Can she…or he…take me to the curers first? They need some of my blood for the cure.”
“She will bring you there first.” Akua rose from the bed and tugged on the golden rope three times. Before, she had only tugged on it once to summon the man. The number of times must have been a code for calling a specific person.
Not too long after, a young girl of about thirteen came through the door. Her eyes stopped on Enitan sitting up in the bed, and her face brightened. “Papa, you are well?”
“I am.”
She ran to the bed and hugged him. “We were so worried.”
“I need you to take our guests to Oupa,” Enitan said.
Koluka faced us. “When you are finished, I’m happy to do so.”
“We’re done,” I said.
A small growl came from Edgar, and I turned. He bent in front of the table, shoved in several bites of fish, and then washed it down with water.
“Don’t let us keep you,” Bastien said to him. “It’s not like we’re trying to save the worlds.”
“You’re a regular clown, aren’t you?” Edgar glared at Bastien and placed his fork on the plate.
Koluka held the door open. “I’ll be back soon, Papa.”
“Make sure to give them cloaks,” Akua said. “Keep to the smaller paths. Their presence in Veilig must go unnoticed. There’s a price on Gia’s head. We don’t want anyone alerting bounty hunters.”
The curers were in a vast room on the lowest floor of the castle. After the curers had taken the needed amount of blood from me, Koluka gave us cloaks and took us out a side door. The cloaks were finely crafted. Mine was a dark hunter green, Bastien’s black, and Edgar’s brown.
The village was just as amazing as the castle. The homes were made out of the same stones that were in the tunnel. The silver and gold veins running through the sandstones glistened in the sunlight. The multicolored cobblestone pathways were arranged into beautiful designs—birds, unicorns, and sea creatures.
A man with a goat following him passed. I lowered my head so the hood of my cloak would hide my face.
“Hallo,” he said.
“Good day, Rada,” Koluka responded.
We followed her along the narrow, winding paths cutting through the village. Beautiful flowers of various colors crowded inside the hundreds of pots adorning the front doors of the homes. It was like walking in paradise.
Koluka stopped in front of a larger home with a wide golden gate. She tugged on a rope at the side. Many bells hanging from a cord that stretched from the gate to a tall, thin door chimed.
A short man rushed to the gate wearing a bright robe made out of fabric the colors of the sun and sky. “Koluka, you brought her. I am so delighted to meet the presage. Hurry, hurry.” He waved us inside. “The windows have eyes, and the trees, ears. It isn’t safe for you in Veilig, Gianna.” He turned to Koluka. “You may go. Thank you for escorting our guests.”
She beamed. “I was happy to do it. It’s like a secret mission. So thrilling. Goodbye, Gianna, and you others.” With a tight turn, she darted down the passageway.
“Good day,” Bastien called.
“Thank you,” I added.
Edgar entered. His muscled shoulders almost brushed against the doorframe.
I leaned close to Bastien. “Is it me, or is Edgar rude? He’s always going in first.”
Bastien stood aside to let me pass. “He does that because he’s a guard, to make sure there are no dangers. No doubt, he had promised Philip he’d protect you.”
“Oh. Guess it’s just me, then.” I crossed over the threshold. It was a bare place with hardly any decorations or furnishings.
Once inside, I lowered my hood and turned to face the man. “I’m here—”
The man held up his hand. “I know why you are here. For the Fifth heir. Follow me.”
“Did someone call and tell you we were coming?” I asked.
“Call?” His little legs could sure move fast. I had to sprint-walk to keep up with him in the long hallway. “That is a curious word. In a way, I suppose she did call me through my dreams. Athela. She has been visiting you as well, I presume.”
“Wait. She comes to you, too?” I’d felt a loss after the last dream. I was pretty sure she was gone.
“I am a prophet. Many spirits come to me. You sound sad.” He opened a door at the end of the hall. “There is no need. She is still with you, even if she doesn’t visit your dreams any longer.”
“What did she tell you?”
“Showed me,” he corrected. “What you saw, I have seen.”
I wanted to know more. After all, he was a prophet. “Have you seen our future? Do we win the battle? Stop Conemar, I mean.”
“What I see are possible outcomes. It depends on the choices you and those around you make whether good wins over evil or not. I will say that you must put aside your emotions at the end. Think with your head. Take a life without hesitation. For in that moment, you could lose it all.”
My hands were shaking at his words, and I fisted them. Thinking where this quest led to scared me, but I couldn’t stop. I had to go on for Nick and the others.
“Who goes there?” A low, guttural voice came from the corner of the room. An extremely old man with a crop of curly gray hair on his head and a beard sat in an overstuffed chair. Thin, wrinkled skin hung from his arms and face. His murky eyes shifted in our direction.
“Taavi, the girl I told you about has come.”
“Good. Let’s get this over with so I can return to my nap.” He grabbed a knife from a plate of fruit and cheeses on the table beside him.
Is he going to cut himself? Yep. He just did.
Blood beaded from the red line on his palm where he’d dragged the knife across.
“A pushpin or needle would have worked.” I removed the canister from my boot and took out the empty vial. “Can you hold this?” I handed the canister to Bastien.
I held the glass vial under Taavi’s shaky hand.
It took some effort for him to keep his arm up. But even so, he squeezed his hand as tight as he could, letting his blood drop from the cut and into the vial. Rada wrapped a thin piece of cloth around Taavi’s wounded hand.
Taavi lowered his arm and leaned back in his chair. “Now, go,” he said. “I’ve not had this much excitement since the Fey Follies in nineteen twenty-two.”
“Thank you,” I said, pulling the hood back over my head. “What you’ve done here today could save billions of lives.”
He clicked his tongue and hissed, “What do I care? It won’t save mine.” His eyes closed.
Taavi wasn’t fooling anyone. I could feel he did care, or why would he so eagerly cut his hand?
Bastien passed me the canister. I slipped the vial inside and secured the cap over it before slipping it back into my boot.
Rada led us outside and took us down several long staircases and under footbridges. We didn’t go unnoticed. People stared curiously at the three hooded figures following the prophet in the colorful robe.
He abruptly stopped. “Quickly, in here.” He waved his arm to steer us into a covered alleyway. The round cobblestones were weathered and uneven. Arched doorways lined each side of the path with potted flowers between them.
“What is—?”
Rada’s hand shot up like a crossing guard, cutting off my question. He opened a blue door and waved us in.
Edgar dashed in, Bastien and me on his heels. In a ready-to-fight stance, Edgar searched the room. There were shelves and barrels around the walls and brooms stacked in a corner. It had to be the back room of a shop of some sort.
“What happened back there?” Bastien asked.
Rada cracked open the door and peered outside. “I spotted some Sentinels in council gear.”
Edgar snapped his head in Rada’s direction. “Council gear? What are they doing here?”
“The council has drafted all retired Sentinels under the age of forty back into service.” Rada opened the door wider. “Stay here and I’ll come back when the coast is clear.”
A woman came through the door leading to the shop. She spoke excitedly in a lyrical language unfamiliar to me. Rada answered her back, and she nodded then returned to the front of the store.
“She will warn you if any of those Sentinels come.” He closed the door behind him.
I bit my thumbnail as we waited for his return, my thoughts running like water in a cracked dam—rushing and not stopping. Were the men looking for us? Did someone tell them we were here? What would they do to us if we were caught? I grabbed the side of my head, hoping to silence my mind.
Bastien leaned against my side. “Are you all right?”
“Headache,” is all I said.
The door opened, and I practically jumped to the ceiling, my elbow knocking against the shelf, causing the bottles to rattle.
Rada’s head poked inside. “We’re clear. Keep up and don’t fall behind.” He rushed down the alleyway, and we charged after him.
Through more alleyways we ran, then over a bridge and finally to a tunnel hidden behind some bushes and cut into the side of the cliffs.
“The tunnel here is more rustic than the one you arrived in, but it’s safer.” Rada moved a fake bush from the entrance.
“A Talpar tunnel,” I said.
“It is.” He leaned the bush against a boulder.
“We appreciate your assistance,” Edgar said before disappearing through the carved-out entry.
“When the time comes,” Rada said to me, “Veilig will stand with you. On your quest for the other heirs’ blood, be careful. Santara is in upheaval, Mantello cannot be trusted, nor can Esteril. Tearmann is our ally. With Philip removed, I’m not sure who you can trust in Asile. But I have written a name for each haven.” He handed me a rolled piece of parchment. “Seek them out, and they will aid you. Go as thieves in the night and keep hidden.”
“Thank you.” I stuffed it into my boot with the canister.
“What have you heard from Couve?” Bastien asked.
Rada’s eyes held empathy. “Augustin has appointed Odil as his commander. The French Sentinels took your mother to the Shelter, and she is safe. Your people suffer laws and restrictions Gareth never imposed on them.”
Gareth. He was Bastien’s father and the High Wizard of Couve before he was murdered when Conemar’s little army attacked the haven. Odil had fallen in love with Veronique and had joined Conemar’s cause because of her. Hearing about his mother and people suffering had to be difficult for Bastien.
But in spite of his pain, Bastien smiled. “I am grateful to you. Please extend our gratitude to Enitan and Akua. It is my hope that the troubles in the Mystik world won’t lead to war.”
“It is my hope, as well.” Rada bowed and watched us enter the tunnel.
With the mud packed walls surrounding me, it felt like being in a grave. Not that I knew what being in one felt like, but I assumed this would be it, except tighter. Hours passed, and it felt as though we’d never arrive at the end.
The closer we got to Mantello, the louder the city just above our heads sounded. Exposed pipes on the ceiling of the tunnel shook and rattled.
A screeching groan traveled through the tunnel, followed by a loud crack. The walls shook, chunks of dirt sliding down the sides. A gush sounded behind us, and I turned. A strong current of water rushed in, knocking us off our feet.