Mortals & Deities (37 page)

The fact that the Mah’Sukai was upset put Elith on guard. She did not trust Rohann Vimith and could not understand why the Mah’Sukai would defend such a man. It was obvious that the man was insane.

Yet, she had no idea how a tree could upset anyone, even one as Rohann Vimith described.

She is unsure if she will ever understand the actions of others.

“It is this way!” Rohann Vimith spun and started down the road. As he left, the two brothers glanced at each other and did not speak until the man was out of earshot.

It was Arderi Cor who shrugged and spoke first. “We have followed him this far. I do not see any reason to stop now. Unless this tree is dangerous?”

The Mah’Sukai reached up and rubbed the back of his neck. “I do not fully understand the Chandril’chi tree, nor what it represents. However, above the Chi’utlan I told you about, the one the Elmorians made me enter, sits one of these trees. I think it feeds off the Essence, for its roots were buried in the Liquid Essence pool of the Chi’utlan.”

“So, you think there is an Essence Node here?” Arderi Cor looked to where Rohann Vimith had rounded the next bend in the road, disappearing from view.

“Mayhaps.” The Mah’Sukai shrugged. “It is possible that this is the power I have felt leading me here. Though, I do not remember feeling this…draw on the Essence when I was near the Chi’utlan in Hath’oolan. After my transformation, however, I admit I was not near it long before I Traveled home.”

“I still say that we should not go further into this accursed city.” The Kithian’s growl gave both brothers a start. “This place is evil. Even the animals avoid it. No good will come from us continuing.”

Elith still longed to test herself against the large Kithian. His words, however, were ones she agreed with. “The Kithian is correct. She has noticed this as well. This place feels….” She could not come up with a term that accurately described what she felt. There was something wrong here. She shook her head instead.

Hitching his pack over one shoulder, the Mah’Sukai cleared his throat. “Well, I have not discovered Rohann’s reasons for being here. Still, I have come seeking answers. Good or bad, I have a feeling that my answers start with that tree.” With that, he walked off after Rohann Vimith.

A quick glance and shrug was all Arderi Cor gave her before he too walked off.

The low rumble deep in the Kithian’s chest, and the glare in its eyes that should have killed anything they fell upon, told her all she needed to know about his mood.

Undaunted by the beast’s threatening posture, the young boy, Charver Vimith, slipped his tiny hand into the Kithian’s clawed paw. “You cannot let Father go off alone, Master Klain. Please, we must follow him.”

This was not the first time the small child had pleaded with the beast. Elith suspected it might be the only thread tying the Kithian to the merchant. As she did with any weaknesses she discovered, she filed this into her memory for possible use later. After another moment’s pause, the beast’s shoulders slumped and he nodded his head. “Aye, little cub. You are correct. We cannot let your father go off alone. Come…” Reaching down, he picked the boy up, settling him on one hip. “…let us go and see this tree, shall we?”

As Elith stood alone in the center of the ancient street, a feeling crept up her spine, causing the hairs on the back of her neck to stand on end. Eyes were upon her. Yet, wherever she looked, she found none. Only broken stone structures, half-fallen into rubble, and the jungle—bushes, vines, broad leaves, and the thick trunks of the tall trees that formed the majority of their sky. The sensation remained, however. Someone or some
thing
had turned its full attention upon her. Studied her with great intent. The feeling was so overpowering, fear tugged at the corners of her mind. The terror of her memory failing her, here in the middle of nowhere, took hold of her and she shivered. Thankfully, her memory did not flee her. She stood there, swiveling her head, trying to catch a glimpse at what watched her, like a frightened rabbit. Yet, she held onto her mind.

“
And the power and might of the gods will reach out and touch every living being. None shall be able to escape their wrath.
” The quote from the first chapter of the Book of the Twelve, spoke of a time when the gods had first come to power, reshaping the Plane into what it is now. She did not know why the passage sprang into her mind. Yet, it was how she felt—as if a god had turned all of his attention upon her. The feeling of being unworthy, small and insignificant, washed over her. Falling to her knees, she wept. The sensation crushed down upon her ever more. Ever more.

The pressure is too great! She has failed!

At a touch on her shoulder, she shrank back with horror. Flinging herself away, she scrambled back across the broken paverstones.

“Hey, hey! It is all right.” Arderi Cor stood before her. He took a tentative step toward her, his hands held out.

Glancing around, she still found no eyes watching her. The feeling gone, her breathing settled.

“What just happened?” Concern filled Arderi Cor’s voice. “Are you all right?” He took another step closer.

“Aye…” Once more, she looked around, peering into every open window or doorway. “She…” Taking his hand, she stood. “She is fine.”

At her words, Arderi Cor tilted his head to the side. “Is she?” Reaching out, he wiped a tear from her cheek. “Because where I come from, most people do not fall down in the middle of the street and weep for no reason.” He grinned. “I mean, it happens. Just not often.”

Forcing herself not to look at anything other than Arderi Cor’s face, she nodded. “Yes, she is fine now. You should hurry. Before the others are too far ahead.” To show him she did not intend to continue this line of talk, she brushed past him and walked. Caught up in her own thoughts, she did not notice whether he followed her or not.

Is this another affliction attacking her mind?

Standing in the middle of the boulevard after Elith walked away, Arderi Cor scanned the area. As far as he could see, nothing was any different from a few moments gone. Still, something had shaken the strange girl.

And anything that could shake
that
girl, scares the tar out of me!

Rotating in a circle, he looked for anything out of the ordinary. With a shake of the head, he lurched into a jog to catch Elith up. Once he drew even with her, they walked on without speaking. Uncertain of what to ask that would not end up with her putting a knife to his throat, he chose to hold his tongue.

Around the bend, Alant, Klain and Charver stood waiting on them. His brother took a few steps toward them. “Where did you go? We almost came back to look for you.”

Looking at Elith from the corner of his eyes, Arderi shrugged. “We were just—sightseeing.”

His words did not make his brother happy. On the contrary, his frown deepened. “This is not the place, Arderi. I have no idea how far ahead Rohann is. We should not separate, even in the daylight.” With a glance at Elith, Alant turned and started off once more.

It was at least two aurns of steady walking before they caught the merchant up, and although several aurns still lay till sundown, the shadows had lengthened and the land lay covered in a perpetual cloak of dusk. Topping a small rise, they found Rohann in the center of what Arderi could only describe as a plaza.

Though, why someone would build a plaza in a big depression—like a giant bowl in the ground—is beyond me.

Rohann sat cross-legged in front of a small, black-barked tree with red leaves. The tree stood in the center of the depression. It was no taller than a man, and a fine red sand covered the ground around it. Swirls and patterns covered every inch of the sand. Buildings of different sizes and shapes surrounded the plaza in various states of collapse.

As the group approached, Arderi nodded to Rohann. “You have been busy.” He pointed to the patterns in the sand. “What do any of them mean?”

The merchant shifted his position so he could look up at Arderi. “I did not make those. This is how I found them.”

“What do you mean? You must have created the swirls in the—” Arderi stopped talking when his brother grabbed his arm.

“This is a miniature version of the one in Hath’oolan. Same burnt flesh-like bark. Same blood-red leaves. Same twisted and tormented appearance.” He rubbed his hands up and down his arms as if chilled. “And same unholiness emanating from it.” Walking to the edge of the red sand, he bent down. “I even think I recognize some of these patterns. I, too, assumed that someone tended the sand. Made the patterns. Now that I think on it, I do not remember anyone ever entering into the sand itself.” Standing, he faced the others. “And I recommend that we keep to that practice—no one step on the red sand. I have no idea what it will do, yet I do not think it is wise.”

“What are you going on about?” The Kith stepped forward. “It is just sand.”

Alant shook his head and stepped away from the tree. “Nix, Master Klain. This is a Chandril’chi tree. And by the looks of it, a very young one.”

Letting go of Klain’s hand, Charver moved a bit closer. “How do you know it is young?”

Reaching behind him, Alant snagged the boy’s shirt and pulled him back next to Klain. “Because the one that stands in front of the Chandril’elian in Hath’oolan has stood there for so long, none of the Elmorians can even remember a time when it was not there. It is said that it has always been there. And it is not the largest tree I have ever seen. Still, it is ten times larger than this one.” Frowning, he shrugged. “Besides. This one seems less…”

“Less what?” The Kith reached out and put a firm hand on the boy’s shoulder.

“Just less. That is all I can say.”

“Well, it is short for a tree.” Arderi laughed. “What now?”

At this, Rohann stood. “Alant knows. I was told he could find her from here!” Something had changed about the merchant. He stood rubbing his hands together, eyes darting to and fro. His previous manic zeal had been pushed to its breaking point. Klain seemed to sense it also, for the large lion-man stepped in between Rohann and his son.

“What am I supposed to know?” Alant sounded frustrated. “This is what I have been feeling. Or, at least, this area.” He waved a hand indicating the entire plaza. “There is a massive pull. Like something is using up the Essence at an alarming rate.”

“Yet, there is nothing here!” Arderi felt his brother’s frustration take hold of him as well. Though he fought to maintain an exterior of calm, inside he had been on edge since the day they left Mocley. Now, after over a moon of hard traveling, not knowing what lay ahead, he had expected something more. Finding this—a tree—was simply not enough. “We are in the middle of a massive city that even the birds will not enter and night is falling! What do we do now? Was this not supposed to be the end of our journey? Were we not to meet someone, find something? Not just a tree!”

“Hold on, Arderi.” Alant reached out and grabbed his arm. “I think I may have an idea.” Turning, he pointed at Rohann. “What is it you said about me knowing where to go?”

“Just that if I led you to this tree, you would know how to find her.”

“Find her?” Alant’s tone dropped and he swallowed hard. “Find who?”

A wicked grin split Rohann’s face. “I think you know who. She called you here in much the same way she called me.”

“So it was not a dream.” Awe now filled Alant’s voice. “She really did speak to me.”

Arderi knew Rohann had lost his mind. He had known it for some time now. Listening to his brother speak so gave him pause, however. “Alant? What are you talking about?”

His brother turned, a look of disbelief in his eyes. “The Goddess Saphanthia.”

Elith gasped and Arderi laughed. “What do you mean, the Goddess Saphanthia?”

“The Goddess Saphanthia.” Alant threw up his hands. “
THE
Goddess Saphanthia. It was her, that eve in the woods. She came to me.”

Elith moved up beside Arderi. Hand covering her mouth, she stared wide eyed at Alant.

Arderi shook his head. “Alant? Saphanthia? As in, from the Book of the Twelve, Saphanthia? Goddess of Wisdom, Saphanthia?” Arderi believed in the gods, or at least thought he did. They laid out the rules of life, prompted you to do good deeds. Waited for you in the Aftermore to help you start that new journey. Still, to say you had actually met one. Talked to one. That seemed—“Impossible.”

“Nix, Arderi. Not impossible. It was her. Or, a vision of her, mayhaps. She said Saphanthia waited for me. That she would answer all my questions. It is why I came here.” The conviction in Alant’s words were strong and all Arderi could do was nod.

Or call him out for being a sheep following fool!

Rohann pushed between them. “Aye. And she said if I brought you here, you could find her.”

At the merchant’s words, Alant turned and pointed at the tree. “If these trees follow a pattern, then what we seek is directly below that tree.” Glancing around, he motioned to a wide building that at one time might have been called grand. A few marble columns still stood to one side of the stairway leading up to its front door. “There.” Not pausing, he walked around the red sandy area and headed for the building, Rohann hot on his heels like an excited dog.

“Wait!” With a glance at Elith, Arderi jogged to catch his brother up. “Why that building?”

Shrugging, Alant continued to walk. “I do not know. It just looks—official. Much like both Chandril’elians I have attended.”

Arderi waved a hand at the building and grimaced. “Official? It does not even have a roof!”

Everyone made their way up the embankment from the Chandril’chi tree and then climbed the marble stairway after Alant. Vines and muck covered most of the structure, and Arderi thought if he put his back into it, he could topple the remaining pillars lining the stairway. The building’s interior held an eerie dark, dank feeling, with a heavy odor of decay. If there had been doors on the gaping entranceway—which Arderi was certain there had been at one point—they had long rotted away.

Alant stood in the center of the large entrance hall, looking up. Coming up even with him, Arderi strained his neck and peered into the shadows some ten paces overhead. “Do you see something?”

“Aye.” His brother’s word was a mere whisper, yet it echoed through the chamber. “There once was a grand…” He waved his hand in a circle, pointing up. “…portrait is all I can call it. It was not painted. It was made from the Essence, somehow. Mayhaps a Silrith’tar, only without a canvas.”

“How do you know this?” It was then that Arderi caught the red glow emanating from Alant’s eyes.

“I can see the residual traces of the Essence floating about.” Turning his burning red eyes to Arderi, Alant smiled. “Whoever lived here held more power and control over the Essence than anyone living now. That is for certain.” Slowly, the red faded from his brother’s eyes.

Arderi suppressed a shudder—he did not want to make his brother feel uncomfortable. Alant’s red eyes were the one thing he did not think he would ever get used to. “So, what are we looking for?”

Facing the others as they joined them, Alant bobbed his head. “All right. If that tree out there follows the same pattern as the one in Hath’oolan, what we are looking for is
beneath
it. This means we need to find some type of stairway or tunnel that leads down.”

“This place is scary enough!” Charver’s tiny voice reverberated loud enough to send dust motes falling from the ceiling. “I do not want to go down into some cave!”

“It will be all right, son.” Making a move to reach out and pat the boy on the shoulder, Rohann stopped at a low growl from Klain. Instead, he squatted down next to Charver and looked him in the eye. “The Goddess of Wisdom, Saphanthia, is near. You do not really think she would bring us all this way just to let some old cave hurt us, do you?”

Charver glanced from his father to Klain. “I…I guess not. I am still scared, though.” Stepping away from Rohann, he reached out and took the Kith’s paw. “Yet, if Master Klain is brave enough to go down, then so am I.”

The weak smile on Rohann’s face turned into a scowl when he looked up at the Kith. “Aye,
Master Klain
is brave enough, are you not?” The sudden change in the man’s attitude startled Arderi.

Klain appeared to notice it as well, for he pulled the boy behind him and faced Rohann. “You are not the man I met in Mocley. This expedition has tainted you.”

A fervor filled the merchant’s eyes as it never had before. “What do you know,
beast
? We are in the presence of a goddess! All that I desire is within my grasp. I have done her will and she will reward me as no man has ever been rewarded!”

With lightning sparking between his fingertips, Alant faced Rohann. “What do you mean, you have done her will? What have you done?”

Backpedaling, as if he had been burned by Alant’s lightning, Rohann’s manner filled with fear. “Nothing! She called and I came. She showed me the way, that is all. The only thing I failed to do for her was to employ—” His mouth clamped shut and he spun about like a wild animal that found itself cornered. “We must hurry! They are coming!”

As if on queue, loud hisses and the crunch of breaking branches echoed through the jungle outside. Fear ripped through Arderi and he started for the doorway. Rohann reached out, snagging his arm. “Nix! There are too many! If you are seen, we will be overrun. We must find the stairway down. It is our only hope!”

Arderi heard them. Hissing and clacking. Moving about, searching the courtyard outside.

It sounds like there are hundreds out there!

“The merchant is correct.” Alant turned and headed for the back of the building. “If this is the building I hope it is, there should be something out back.”

The party followed Alant, taking any hallway that ran toward the back of the building. Within moments, they exited out into a large walled courtyard. The wall in several places had collapsed, and only a few broken statues remained on the pedestals that littered the area, yet Arderi could see that at one time this had been a large garden.

“There!” Without pause, Alant raced across the courtyard to a pile of rubble that may have been a small building once. A massive jungle tree dominated one side of the pile, stretching high into the air, its branches adding to the canopy.

Glancing up, Arderi noticed how late it had become. Dusk fell in earnest now, and darkness would soon cover the land. Following his brother, the rest of the party made their way over the rubble to the far side. There, between two fallen slabs of marble, each larger than the Kith, stood an opening. The beginnings of a stairway, just visible in the waning light, disappeared into the bowels of the ground.

Grabbing his brother’s shoulder, Arderi drew Dorochi and stepped inside. The stairs, from what little he could see, curved gently to his right. “These stairs lead away from the tree, brother!”

A bright flash came from behind him, spilling from Alant’s hands and illuminating the stairway further down. His brother stepped up next to him. “Well, we will just have to make our way around underground then. There must be passageways and such.”