Benji strode toward her from the back of the cavern, regarding her with eyes that flared brighter silver. “Are you afraid to learn these patterns?”

  It wasn’t a denial, she knew.

  Imogen focused, thinking about the patterns within herself, and she turned to Jorend. “I will work with you to understand the sacred patterns.”

  Jorend smiled at her. “You already have. When we were in the temple, I was working with the sacred patterns but struggling with them. I was trying to find precision, the way we all must find precision. That is the key to the traditional patterns.”

  “The traditional patterns, but not the sacred patterns.”

  “Right,” he said, nodding. “Which is why I struggled, much like so many others who go to the sacred temple.”

  “But you mastered several sacred patterns.”

  “I did, but I still did not understand them.” Jorend ran his finger along the hilt of his blade, and he looked up at her. “I received notches once I passed the tests, but even so, I still was aware that I did not understand the sacred patterns the way I needed to. There was something in what I did, in how I demonstrated them, that was different than how Master Liu did. I’m not sure why he promoted me despite my failings. I think he simply wanted to be rid of me. From what I’ve learned since then, I wasn’t the only one who felt that way. Others believe the same of Master Liu.”

  She laughed. “I don’t think there are many people who leave the sacred temples feeling they are a sword master.”

  “Not very many, but there is you.”

  She smiled tightly, and her thoughts turned inward. When she had left the sacred temple, she’d done so as a failure as well, though she had known it. Did Jorend know he was sent away as a failure?

  “I was asked to leave the temple,” she said. “I was sent on a quest to do something I thought was impossible.”

  Imogen didn’t talk about this with many people. Even talking about it with Jorend now left her uneasy, but she felt as if she needed to.

  “It was something Master Liu said to me.” She shook her head, wondering whether or not she should reveal it. Then again, she had not returned to Master Liu, and she had no reason to keep any of his secrets now. “He wanted me to take a bond quest to find myself. He wanted me to learn. To change.”

  Had she not left, she knew what would’ve happened to her. She never would have changed.

  “That’s why you left?” Jorend frowned, cocking his head from side to side, and he looked at her. “I don’t know any who were given a bond quest by Master Liu.”

  “I don’t either,” Imogen said softly. “It was his way of giving me a purpose, or so I thought at the time.”

  She realized she was focusing on Tree Stands in the Forest. There came a strange, fluctuating reverberation that came from the eggs behind her. Surprisingly, through her connection to the sacred pattern, she could feel that energy emanating from the eggs.

  “You were sent away dishonorably,” he said.

  She shrugged. “I thought so at the time, but I don’t even know. It’s possible Master Liu truly did know something of my future. Maybe he spoke with a Porapeth.” Imogen glanced back toward Benji, who sat near the eggs, and she grinned at the thought.

  “Is that why you returned?” Jorend asked.

  She met his gaze. “I am unbonded, but that’s not why I returned. At the time, I thought I was returning only for the branox, but now I wonder if perhaps there was another reason—one I didn’t even know.”

  Maybe she had been guided.

  She looked over to Benji again. “We will choose our path.”

  “We will choose our path,” Jorend said, nodding to her.

  “When we do, I want to be ready.”

  “What do you fear we need to be ready for? Are you still convinced that we’re caught up in some game between the Porapeth?”

  Imogen sighed. It might come down to pressing Benji on it, but even if she did, it was possible that he would not share with her anything more.

  “More renral,” she said. “Including the one that left here. Perhaps other creatures of power. Whatever comes, we need to be ready.” Imogen looked to the people gathered in front of her. “And what of them?”

  Jorend stared for a few moments. “They are ready, but I suspect they will want more of an explanation at some point.” The way he said it suggested it wasn’t just the people who would want more of an explanation—he did as well. She didn’t blame him for that. He deserved to know more, especially with everything they might have to deal with.

  More than that, she wasn’t exactly sure which way they were going to go. They had to travel down the terraces, but beyond that…

  Imogen would have to find her own path. Not the one Abigail seemed intent to push them on, and not even the path Benji wanted for her. It would be her own, even if it put her between the two Porapeth.

  As she looked over to Benji, she started to wonder if perhaps that was his choice for her. If it was, he hadn’t said anything about it, which made it even more likely that it was his way of trying to force her in a certain direction.

  He wouldn’t say anything. Somehow, and some way, they would have to find their own path.

  Chapter Eighteen

  THE BASE of the valley was filled with fog. Imogen swept her gaze around and crouched as she neared a section of thick grass. The valley was covered with tall broadleaf grass, and the dampness of the blades left her uneasy. She saw no trees or flowers—nothing but the grass and the fog.

  Everybody had descended safely. The protections they’d placed and the enchantments they’d used had given them the ability to do so quickly, and far more safely than Imogen would’ve expected. It was a stroke of luck.

  She felt a crackling energy that reminded her of the branox. The sensation left her feeling on edge, but no one looked up. Only Imogen. She stared up at the sky, watching for any sign of the renral, but there was nothing. Just her nerves.

  She kept watching for some sign of an attack, and though there had not been one, she feared that it was only a matter of time. From here, they had to find their way toward the city. She would need to use Benji to help guide them, especially as she wasn’t sure how they needed to travel or what he might see.

  Increasingly, the people were taking up the positions Imogen wanted them to, without any sort of guidance. The Leier intermingled with the Koral, and they all worked together, which pleased her. They had paired up so that weaker Leier fighters who were Second or lower were with the more potent Koral shamans. Imogen didn’t know if that was intentional, but it was a reasonable strategy.

  Fog stretched toward them, as if swirling from deeper in the valley. She had looked for another terrace down but found nothing more than a sheer rock wall leading even farther down into the depths of the fog.

  She caught up to Benji, who crouched down near the head of the procession and touched the damp grasses near him. He leaned forward as if sniffing them and not just the wind this time.

  “Do we have to descend even farther to reach the city?” Imogen asked.

  He kept sniffing and didn’t answer right away. Eventually, he turned toward her with eyes slightly wide. “I think that would be unwise.”

  “Is that something you see?”

  “Something I feel,” he said.

  “Because of Abigail?” They hadn’t seen any sign of her, but Imogen continued to suspect that Abigail had a hand in pushing them this direction.

  “Perhaps. I can’t see if she has guided us this way on purpose. Maybe she truly wanted us to be safe and to stay on the higher terraces.”

  He got to his feet and wiped his hands on his pants. “I will keep trying, but for now, I think it’s wise to stay along this path.”

  She waited, and she could feel a sort of strange magic emanating from him, but then it faded. Benji wasn’t trying to use much magic here. Why was that? When they’d been higher up, he had been quick to use his power, tapping his feet in a steady rhythm and using his patterns in the air.

  “Something’s not quite right here for you,” she said. “What is it? Are you concerned about her?”

  “I have been trying to determine what she is after.”

  “You really don’t know?”

  Benji sighed. “There was a time when I could see what she intended. I no longer can. It worries me.”

  “What could she be after?”

  He looked out over the valley into the fog. “In the past, Abigail was no different than other Porapeth and she’d wanted nothing more than to provide guidance with what she could see. Over time, her goals shifted. Unfortunately, I can no longer see them, and I no longer know what she intends. We live a long life, and we each have our own agenda. None more so than Abigail.”

  “What do you mean by that?”

  “We prefer to offer influence from outside, but she has always wanted a more direct approach. Unfortunately. I’m not sure what she’s trying to influence this time, but I fear that it is something dangerous.”

  Imogen frowned. “What makes you say that? You wouldn’t just imply that unless you had a reason.”

  He pursed his lips. “When I could still see, I recognized that a great darkness was coming.” He raised his hands, as if to preemptively cut her off. “I don’t know what it was, only that my path brought me here. To you.”

  “I need to know the truth of the Porapeth,” she said. “What you’ve been trying to hide from me. What happened with Abigail?”

  “I told you what happened. She intervened in events she should not have, and the others stepped in to keep her from causing greater harm.”

  “How did she intervene?”

  Benji breathed out heavily. “She divided a people that should not have been divided.”

  “The Leier and Koral,” she whispered.

  He held her gaze. “It was a long time ago. Long enough that none remember. Only the Porapeth.”

  “But you said the other Porapeth intervened.”

  “How do you think your sacred sword masters learned what they needed? The Porapeth intervened to prevent what Abigail had set in motion. They gave up a part of themselves in doing so, and they were lost long ago. Only their disciples remain. I don’t know what Abigail saw. Each Porapeth views the world in different ways, and I can’t say what she thought to influence. It had been a long time since I’d seen her, but I don’t disagree with what the others did.”

  “What about you? You weren’t one of the Porapeth involved?”

  “No, yet Abigail still blames me. She tries to come after me from time to time.” He smiled as he said it, like it was some sort of game to him.

  “Did it have to do with Timo?”

  “I don’t know,” he admitted. His eyes flashed with silver. “I’ve been trying to determine the cause, but everything leads me here. Perhaps this is why I was supposed to come here. Every glimpse I can see has guided me in this direction.”

  “Then why not leave me so you can see more clearly again?”

  “Because I fear that if I leave you, I won’t be able to help.” He smiled again, this one sad, almost somber. He turned and walked away from her.

  A few of the Koral and Leier made their way along the terrace, and Imogen caught up with Lilah, who was only a few steps behind Jorend.

  “We need to keep moving carefully,” Imogen said.

  “Because of him?” Jorend asked, nodding in Benji’s direction.

  “I’m not so sure if it was him or the other Porapeth. I’m starting to become concerned.”

  Jorend snorted. “Starting?”

  Imogen shrugged. “He doesn’t know what’s coming, and I think he’s worried about it.”

  “If we keep going this way, it will bring us closer to the homeland.”

  Closer, but not back.

  They still had a long journey ahead of them to reach the city.

  Every so often, Imogen caught a glimpse of lights in the distance, which suggested they were getting closer. It gave her hope, but more than that, she began to feel something: the tightness and the influence of magic. She didn’t need to see it to know it was out there.

  She signaled to the others that they needed to slow. She looked over to Benji, who was still staring down into the fog of the valley. He hadn’t wanted to help out of fear of influencing events, but maybe that had to change.

  Could the others feel anything? There was magic out here. She could feel it, and she could tell power was out there, though she couldn’t tell what it was.

  Imogen tried to think of what it would take for her to fully detect power around her, but she wasn’t sure what that might involve. She could use Tree Stands in the Forest, but that may not give her the answers she needed. Whatever she detected left her with an underlying anxiety. She tried not to overreact to it but worried that if she did not respond in any way, they wouldn’t be prepared for it. Imogen guided their group carefully, then paused. Maybe it was late enough that they could take a break for the evening.

  She looked over to Jorend. “Set up camp. I’m going to have Lilah come with me and take a look. Nothing more than that. Once we know it’s safe, the rest can join.”

  “You shouldn’t go alone, General,” he said.

  “I won’t be. Get the people ready.”

  She and Lilah had not spent much time alone these days. Imogen felt as if she knew the girl, but she also thought she needed to get to know her better. Lilah was taking on a more important role within the Koral, especially among the shamans.

  The two of them walked along the spongy ground. The humid air seemed to radiate from the fog beneath them. Imogen could still feel the strange crackling energy, but she had not seen anything to indicate where it was coming from.

  They hadn’t gone very far when Lilah spoke. “Are you concerned about what we might find when we leave the camp behind?”

  Imogen glanced over. Her hand, as always, remained near the hilt of her sword. “The Koral shamans can place protections.”

  Lilah looked up the rocky cliffside. “It was effective up there, but I don’t know how effective it will be down here. All you had them doing—I mean, us doing—was placing a simple barrier.”

  “And a simple barrier should work here. Even if you need something more complex, I am confident the shamans will be able to do it.”

  They walked for a few more moments in silence.

  “Has it been hard for you to join the Koral shamans?” Imogen asked.

  “I thought it might be. They’ve been so welcoming. I…” She glanced behind her, before turning back and meeting Imogen’s eyes. “Perhaps it doesn’t matter.”

  “Why would you say that?”

  Lilah was quiet for a while. “Magic,” she finally said. “If I’d stayed in my home, I don’t know what I would’ve learned of it.”

  Imogen glanced over. Lilah’s dark hair, pale skin, and slight build reminded her that Lilah could have been her had she taken a different path.

  “The Leier are afraid of magic,” Imogen said. “When I was young, I was taught that magic was a path to darkness. I believed it, especially because we were shown examples of Koral shamans, people who embraced magic and were said to follow the path toward darkness. We were told they wanted to fight my people. Our people.

  “Even that understanding of the Koral was misguided. Think of what we’ve learned in the time we’ve traveled. The Koral barely attempted to cross the mountains, and only did so when chased by creatures like the renral or others, and never otherwise.” It was what Conrad had told her before he had died. The other shamans had been less inclined to speak to her about the Koral, though Imogen didn’t blame them for that. How could she, when she was still the enemy?

  “When I was young, all I wanted to do was to learn about the sword. I wanted to be the best,” Imogen continued. “I was consumed by the stories of magic users and the darkness they were filled with. I wanted nothing more than to understand how to use the sacred patterns to defeat them.”

  “That is why my parents hid me,” Lilah said.

  “They hid you, your sisters, and I suspect there are Leier who were hidden in a similar way. One thing I have seen in the world is that there is magic everywhere. It blossoms in strange and unusual places.”

  “Such as… such as in you?”

  “Thank you for asking that question while we’re away from the others.”

  “I’ve seen what you do,” Lilah said.

  “You’ve seen me using sacred patterns.”

  “I’ve seen you using magic. You may not want to call it that, and your people may not, but that’s what it is, isn’t it?”

  Imogen looked around, uncertain what to do or say, and not wanting to deny the truth. Not any longer. “It might be. I can’t deny that, and I can’t deny that I don’t know if it is or not. All I know is that what we do—the way we use power—is distinct.”

  “The way you use power is tied to your patterns.”

  Imogen nodded. “Sacred patterns. Only a few can even do it.” She traced her thumb along the notches on her blade. “At least, that’s what I believed. But perhaps that was a mistake. I intend to see if I can do anything about that.”

  All this time, she had never understood the truth about the Porapeth influence on their people. It made sense, though. But what she still didn’t understand was what Abigail had done and how she had first separated the Leier and the Koral. Was that what this was about now? If so, why?

  Lilah let out a small laugh. “You intend to teach your people magic? They’re Leier, Imogen. I have a hard time thinking they’ll be willing to embrace it.”

  “I won’t be teaching magic,” Imogen said.

  She had been thinking this through, but not well enough to have come up with a plan already. Teaching the sacred patterns wasn’t the same as teaching magic, though. She could demonstrate what she knew of the sacred patterns and could encourage her people to find their own flow. If that helped them defeat the kind of magic they might have to face, then she was willing to do it. Some of them might eventually learn there was something more to the sacred patterns, much like she did. She hoped Jorend would eventually come around, but even he might struggle with the truth.

 

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