Leaves of Flame (36 page)

The Seasonal Trees were failing.

A wave of despair and hopelessness washed over Colin, stultifying in its depth. He staggered back from the barrier, began retreating back toward the Confluence and his own body, but then forced himself to stop, to draw deep breaths to control his stampeding heart, to steady the trembling that coursed through his body even though it was hundreds of miles distant.

The Trees were failing, but he’d known they would not hold forever. He’d simply assumed they would last longer than this, hundreds of years longer. He had not anticipated that Walter or the Wraiths would find a way to circumvent or destroy them. Not so soon.

But they had.And now he and the rest of the three races would have to deal with it.

Pulling himself together, he glanced toward the gathering storm, more lightning seething across the skies in a spider’s web of raw energy, then turned his attention southward. He needed to know how badly the Trees had been compromised. He had felt nothing wrong when he touched the Winter Tree in Caercaern, but the Wraiths had had months since then to wreak havoc here in the east. The Summer Tree was under attack, but what of the Autumn Tree in Temeritt? He needed to check both it and the Winter Tree again.

He sped southward, blazing along the barrier between the Summer Tree and the Well to the east, feeling the fluctuations, taking note of how far the Summer Tree’s influence had decayed.As he came to where theAndagua River broke apart, the massive system of tunnels and ancient buildings that the dwarren used here shattered by a cataclysm in ages past,he slowed.The dwarren called the region Broken Waters, the river collapsing into thousands of smaller streams and cascades that spread through the chunks of stone and seeped out onto the plains and the region beyond called the Flats, but this was also where the Summer Tree’s influence ended and the Autumn Tree’s began.

Except he couldn’t sense the Autumn Tree at all.

Nausea rolled through his stomach. Where the Autumn Tree and the Summer Tree were supposed to merge, he sensed only the intruding presence of the Source. It cut into the area where the two Trees had mingled.

Colin followed the edge south and west, shuddered with relief when he finally sensed the Autumn Tree merging with the Summer Tree.The two had not been separated and torn apart completely. Walter and the Wraiths had merely used the Source to drive a wedge between the two.

But what he sensed from the Autumn Tree, even weakened by the distance from the Confluence, left the taste of ash in his mouth.

He lingered long enough to verify that what he’d felt was true, and then he turned to speed toward the Confluence and the Gathering of the dwarren. He thought he knew now why they had Gathered.

And he needed to warn them of what they faced.

“Is the Tree safe?” the leader of the Keepers asked anxiously as soon as he came within twenty paces. They had all watched him as he descended from the bole of the Tree, had already seen the serious cast to his face, the numerous shamans collecting near their leader, surrounding Eraeth, Siobhaen, and Quotl.

“The Tree has been compromised,” Colin said, turning his attention to Quotl as the rest of the Keepers gasped. “The Wraiths are using their newfound power to attack the protection that the Tree offers. There is nothing that the Keepers can do here to salvage the situation, except to bolster and support the Tree as much as they can.They may be able to hold off the destruction for a time, but they cannot hold it off forever unless someone seizes control of the newly awakened Well.

“And there’s more—”

Before he could continue, a sudden flurry of drums resounded throughout the chamber, all of the dwarren turning.

“The Broken Waters Clan is arriving,” Quotl murmured.

Even as he spoke, a column of dwarren emerged from one of the widest tunnels leading to the southeast. Colin estimated at least two thousand Riders poured forth, spilling across the stone floor, spreading out as they emerged into the massive chamber. A roar rose among the dwarren, voices raised and weapons clattering against stone and chests.

Quotl turned to Colin.“The Gathering will be called immediately. We must return.”

“What can we do for the Summer Tree?” the Keeper asked. His eyes were still wide with shock.

“Lend it your strength,” Colin said, glancing around at all of the dwarren shamans. “The Summer Tree still holds, and the longer it holds, the greater the chance that we can find a way to defeat the Wraiths.”

“Shadowed One!” Quotl called. The head shaman of Thousand Springs had already climbed down from the edge of the Summer Tree’s roots. He motioned toward the milling group of dwarren who had just entered the chamber. “Come!”

Colin nodded toward the Keepers, then urged Eraeth and Siobhaen after Quotl.

“You said there is more?” Eraeth said as they moved around the Confluence, the background roar of the turbulent water to one side.

“It’s far worse than I thought possible in such a short amount of time,”Colin said in answer.“But I’ll explain it all at the Gathering.”

They reached the chaos created by the arrival of the Broken Waters Clan and forced their way through the group to the forefront, where Oraju and Kimannen were greeting the clan chief. The Archon shot Colin and Quotl a dark look but said nothing.

“—unusual activity to the south,” Clan Chief Asazi was growling as they approached,“on the Flats.I sent out scouts to determine who and what it was, but they did not return. We only have the word of one of our trettarus, and they say that the group was headed southward, not toward dwarren lands.”

Oraju raised a hand to forestall him.“Save the report for the Gathering. Is the keeva prepared, Archon?”

Kimannen nodded. “All is ready. The fires have been lit and the yetope prepared. The blessings have all been spoken. Ilacqua has been called to give us counsel.”

“Then we will begin immediately. Summon the rest of the clan chiefs and the head shamans.”

“And the Shadowed One?” the Archon asked with a glare.

“Ilacqua has seen fit to bring him to us at this time. He must attend as well.”

The Archon grunted, but Colin ignored him. “My two Alvritshai companions should be part of the Gathering as well,” he said. “As we will see, there is more at stake here than dwarren lands and dwarren interests.”

The Cochen frowned, eyes raking the two Alvritshai before he nodded in reluctant agreement. “Bring them.”

The entire group turned and followed the Archon up into the myriad stairs and walkways of the cliff dwellings carved into the side of the chamber.As they ascended, Eraeth tugged on Colin’s sleeve.

“Why did you want us as part of the Gathering?”

“Because what I said is true. You will both be there to represent the Alvritshai’s interests. You will represent the Lords of the Evant, and Siobhaen the Order of Aielan.”

“But we have no standing in the Evant,” Siobhaen pointed out.“And I have little in the Order.Besides,I don’t understand dwarren!”

“That does not matter. The Alvritshai need to be seen here, or they will be forgotten.”

They reached a wide opening, rounded like an egg, where three of the head shamans of the clans waited, chanting quietly. They bowed to the Cochen and Archon, the chants never ceasing, and motioned with their scepters, the snakes’ tails tied to them rattling as they shook them. The Archon bowed in return and ushered the Cochen into the chamber, the rest following. Inside, embers pulsed red in a pit dug out in the center of the floor, yetope smoke already rising from the dried weeds tossed on it. Like the keeva at the Thousand Springs Clan, natural worn seats surrounded the central pit. The Archon and Cochen took up positions against the far wall, the rest spreading out around both sides. As Colin settled down, Eraeth and Siobhaen to his right, he glanced toward the rest of the clan chiefs and their shamans. Tarramic and Quotl were seated across from him, Quotl removing his pipe and packing dried leaves into its bowl. He placed the end of a stick into the coals of the fire pit and lit his pipe with a few puffs of smoke, a contented smile entering his eyes.

Then the doors to the keeva were closed.

The heat was instant, sweat breaking out on Colin’s face as he tried to find a more comfortable position. The smoke from the fire pit began to fill the chamber.

Siobhaen began to cough, but Eraeth leaned over and said, “Breathe it in deeply and let it out slowly.”

After a moment of struggle, her breathing steadied.

When the smoke had grown dense enough that Colin could barely see Quotl across the fi re pit, the Cochen stirred.

“We Gather for war,” he said bluntly. None of those within the keeva acted surprised. “This is what is known, sent to us by Clan Chief Corranu: A force of many thousands has gathered in the Thalloran Wastelands to the east. We have seen signs of this gathering for many months. Corranu and Asazi reported bands of men along the desert and in the Flats to the south, although never more than a hundred at one time. In addition, the creatures of the Turning have increased in number. War parties were sent, and the trettarus have noticed that the creatures are no longer acting singly. They are acting in groups, attacking as one more and more frequently.

“Corranu believes that the small bands have come together and, at last report, were moving toward Painted Sands lands.”

“There is more,” Asazi said, speaking before anyone could react. “As the Broken Waters Riders were preparing to leave, we received reports that a second army of creatures of the Turning had crossed the Flats, heading south.”

“So you are saying there are two armies prepared to enter dwarren lands?” one of the other clan chiefs growled.

Asazi nodded.

“But how is this possible?” the Archon said sharply. He shot a glance toward Colin. “The Summer Tree protects us from the creatures of the Turning. How could these armies threaten dwarren lands?”

A murmur of agreement rose from nearly all of the dwarren gathered, although it wasn’t as hostile as the Archon’s words.

Colin sighed. “Because the Summer Tree is failing.”

A few of the dwarren cried out, one of them leaping to his feet, his figure vague in the thick smoke. Colin saw Clan Chief Asazi nodding, his eyes dour. Broken Waters had already been affected by the failure; he had likely suspected it before he had arrived.

“What do you mean the Summer Tree is failing?” the Cochen asked, a tremor behind the grave words.

“The Seasonal Trees were created to hold the urannen and the other creatures of the Turning at bay, a barrier they could not cross, but they were not intended to last forever, only long enough for us to find a defense against them.And they were not intended to withstand an assault.”

The head shamans suddenly leaned forward as the words sank in.

“What kind of assault?” Quotl asked, drawing on his pipe.

“One that I believe has been organized by the Wraiths.” He glanced around the dim, smoky keeva. “You have all witnessed the abrupt return of the unnatural storms on the plains and the resurgence of the occumaen.”

At a few confused looks,Quotl said,“The Eyes of Septimic.”

“The reason these have returned is because the Wraiths have reawakened a massive Well somewhere in the east, somewhere in the Thalloran Wastelands from what I can determine. They are using the power of this Well to assault the barrier provided by the Seasonal Trees. I touched the Summer Tree before the Gathering and I have learned that their assault has pushed the barrier within the boundaries of the dwarren plains.”

“How far into the plains?” the Cochen demanded.

“Far enough that if Corranu sends the dwarren to meet this army coming from the Thalloran Wastelands, he will not be protected by the Summer Tree. But there is more. The assault is not on the Summer Tree alone. The Wraiths have also targeted the Autumn Tree and the human Provinces to the south. They are driving a wedge between the two Trees, separating them at their weakest point, where the two merge. This threat is not strictly a dwarren threat. It encompasses all three races—dwarren, human, and Alvritshai. In fact, I believe that one of the two armies is headed toward the human Province of Temeritt, even as the other heads here.”

Arguments broke out on all sides in the rough, guttural language of the dwarren as the consequences of the Summer Tree’s failure began to take hold.As Colin settled back, Eraeth leaned closer and said forcefully,“We must get word of this to the Evant.”

“And the Order,” added Siobhaen from across Eraeth’s body. Eraeth had been translating as much as he could of the discussion.“The Chosen must know,so that he can prepare the Order if the Winter Tree fails!”

Colin nodded.“I know.I’m hoping that the dwarren will see the significance of this and abide by the Accord and send word themselves. Otherwise, I’m not certain how we will let them know.” He caught their gazes. “Unless one of you is willing to return on your own to warn them.”

Eraeth and Siobhaen cast each other heated glares. Colin knew that Eraeth would not leave him alone with Siobhaen; he still did not trust her. And he knew Eraeth would not trust Siobhaen to deliver the message. He didn’t know what kept Siobhaen at his side—a sense of duty to Lotaern, or a sense of guilt over what had happened in the White Wastes—but he doubted she would leave him now after traveling this far.