A Dagger of the Mind (The Imperial Metals) (18 page)

Chapter
33: The Tundra

Duncan did not understand why people would agree to live in Aceley. The island-continent was as far north as civilization went. The landmass covered the north pole, but only the southern coast actually had any settlements. In Duncan’s mind, if they were smart enough to stay on the south side of the island, they should have been smart enough to move off the island altogether.

The good news was the city they had arrived in, Karlsvanja, was a high traffic port for the northern trade routes. People from all ends of the world were passing through. And since Eric had the foresight to have them Shadow Travel into an empty alley, nobody looked twice at a company of three Rone and one Turin strolling through town.

Duncan had to pull out his broken Acelean, from a class he had taken six years ago, in order to get them two rooms at the Tavern. After a good night’s sleep and a hearty meal, they struck out of town, heading due north.

---

They followed a hunting path for several miles, but the wind was fierce. Even with scarves wrapped over their faces, the cold stung at their skin. They crossed a hunting party returning to town with a pair of elk. Both parties gave each other a wide berth. Sure, there were probably laws against killing people, but it wasn’t like a constable was going to show up and keep the peace.

But soon the path disintegrated in the growing snow drifts. Their footsteps cracked over virgin snow, blazing their own trail. Except for the occasional tracks of other hunters, and sometimes of hooves and paws. Landora led the group, veering away from all of those tracks.

“You know where you’re going?” Duncan asked.

“I do,” Landora retorted. “Though I’m not eager to get there.”

“We have to find out what we can.”

“This power...” Landora prodded, “It attacked the Countess. But you do not seek vengeance.”

“How do you know?”

“Because I know what vengeance looks like. And what it feels like. It is not in your heart.”

“I want to make sure that whoever attacked Vye doesn’t hurt anyone else.”

“I find it strange. That they could murder one so close to you, your liege, your Master, and you could remain so...composed.”

“It’s a facade. I want to hurt these villains. I want to cause them pain.”

“Perhaps. But you have tamed your anger. Your vengeance isn’t driving you,” Landora concluded. After a moment, she added, “Are you noble?”

“I’m high-born, if that’s what you mean. My father is Lord Kelliwick, a minor Baron in Arwall. So, I’m probably only medium-born.”

“But you are also valiant.”

“If I’m valiant, then you are twice so.”

“Not true.”

“You have worked hand-in-hand with us, helping us solve a problem from another country. And one of our party killed your sister.”

“You don’t understand. The danger you have discovered affects us all. Argos has ruined the Turin. He led us into a disastrous war. Diminished our numbers. But even worse, he desecrated our way of life. He dishonored us, communing with this evil power. I am driven to restore our honor.”

“The Turin will recover. You are a resilient people.”

“Maybe. But every year, we have fewer children. Our numbers dwindle, and I fear there will come a day when we are no more.”

To this, Duncan had no answer. No way to comfort her. He had been thirteen when the War had come. And for a brief time, the possibility that the Kingdom would be wiped off the face of the earth felt real. They had survived, and a record number of births were recorded nine months after the war was won.

But for the Turin, the news was not so good. Their death toll, while much smaller than that of the Rone, was nonetheless a much higher percentage of their population. And it was largely their young, healthy men and women. To make matters worse, the next two winters had been particularly harsh, and sickness ravaged the Turinheld. Usually, the Turin-Sen magic would have cured the sick, but Eric was alone, and could only do so much.

“We will help your people survive,” Duncan offered, though he knew he was in no position to do anything.

“We are your enemies.”

“You’re not my enemy.”

“Nor I yours. But our two peoples cannot both live on our land.”

“There’s a Peace Festival happening right now. We’re allies.”

“Amongst the Turin, many are convinced that this truce is temporary. That it will be but the eye of a storm. That the cruel Rone will grow bored of peace, and will once again move north.”

“I would never let that happen,” Duncan said, again unsure of how he meant to back up those words.

“You are not the King. Or the Queen. How will you stop your people? How will you tame their unbridled aggression?”

“I don’t know. But I promise, I will do everything I can to make sure nothing happens to you,” he said. Then added, “To your people, I mean.”

But Landora smiled under her mask.

---

It got dark early, and quickly. Landora directed the others to construct a campsite in the cover of a large snow drift. They dug out enough of a trench that the wind wouldn’t freeze them to death and started two fires, one on either end. It was actually quite cozy.

But the night wasn’t peaceful. Because the Aceley White Bear likes to hunt at night.

The Aceley White is a formidable creature. Coated in white, camouflaged against the tundra, it’s surprisingly quiet for a fifteen-hundred pound beast.
The
only parts that aren’t white are its beady, black eyes, its black nose, and its vicious black
claws
.

Attracted to the light, the massive creature padded to the campsite. But one thing about being fifteen hundred pounds is you displace a lot of snow. And a coating of freezing cold snow was just the sort of thing to wake Landora up.

She saw the beast snarling down at her, and she called out, waking the others. She reached up, prepared to sear the monster with whatever magic she could call up, but then she learned that Aceley Whites are also fast.

The bear snapped its surprisingly long neck into the alcove, clamping around Landora’s arm and whipping her out of her blanket. Landora tried to concentrate just long enough to release her will against her enemy, but then it planted her in the snow, face first, flash-freezing her mind and body.

The others stirred, though only Noble was ready to fight in a moment’s notice. He grabbed his sword and leapt up onto the embankment, facing off against the frightening creature.

But the Aceley White was a cunning creature. It held Landora in its jaw, keeping her between Noble and its own body. Landora was dazed, unable to even struggle against the bear’s gripping jaw.

Noble strafed around, trying to flank the bear. But in eighteen inches of snow, he couldn’t move fast enough. The bear kept turning to face him.

Duncan and Nuria fought off their fatigue, crawling to the edge of the pit. Nuria gasped when she saw Landora.

“I’m going to help Noble,” Duncan said, “You stay here.”

“I can also help.”

“Landora is going to need you to heal her. You need to stay safe.” And he grabbed his sword.

Noble spotted Duncan climbing out of the pit, sword in hand. Maybe the diplomat wasn’t a great fighter, but if Noble could keep the bear distracted... He sidestepped again and again, each time forcing the White to turn, degree by degree. Duncan waited for his moment...

And as soon as the bear had its back to the trench, Duncan charged out. His footing was unsure, trampling through the snow, but he launched himself at the bear’s hindquarters...

The bear kicked him in the chest with its back foot. Duncan flew back, sliding across the ice, a splattering of blood drizzling over the pure white snow.

And now the thing was spooked. It took off and galloped across the land, Landora still in its jaws. Noble gave chase, but the beast was much better suited for running on ice than he was...

He collapsed onto his knees, panting and spent. The white bear faded into the darkness of the night...

Chapter
34: The Dreams of the Dead

“Why am I here?” Vye asked.

They were deep in the Caves of Drentar. Down in the corridors of the Castle Zenith. She already knew the answer to her own question, but she needed to pretend she didn’t, for her own sake.

“You’re trying to find someone who died here,” Frost said. “Do you know who?”

“Yes,” Vye admitted. It was Halmir. Ever since Frost had mentioned that she would be speaking to the dead, he was the first person she thought of. Why him? Why not Michael? Or Gabriel? Or her dead brothers? Had she been in love? Had they even known each other long enough for that to happen? But the only question she asked out loud was...

“Where is he?”

“He will be here when he is ready,” Frost said. “But I need to prepare you for this. This isn’t like talking to the living in a dream.”

“I’ve already seen dead people in some of these dreams.”

“You’ve seen the memory of them. The echo. The image and the sound of a person. But nothing you did or said in those dreams would affect that person, because he or she wasn’t really there.”

“And now...”

“When someone dies, their being... their essence... drifts into the Land of the Dead. And the Dreamscape is connected to it. But the transformation is profound. The Dead exist in a whole new way. And we can’t explain it and we can’t comprehend it, but we do know one thing. Speaking with them is a daunting task. Exhausting. You can’t do it too often. You have to be careful about who you contact. They can be very, very dangerous.”

Vye nodded. In her eagerness to see Halmir, it hadn’t occurred to her that this sort of thing could, and probably should, be very dangerous.

“Alright,” Vye said, “How do I contact him?”

“He’s standing right behind you,” Frost said.

Vye turned. And as she did, she felt the weight of the world changing around her. She was standing on an emotional precipice. A cliff of the soul. Frost faded from the corridor, turning ghostly white. As though he were a memory to her. And in front of her was Halmir.

He was standing upright, probably right in the spot where he had died. He didn’t look dead. He wasn’t wounded, nor
did his skin have the pallor of death. He was alive, though Vye would have described his expression as bored.

“Halmir,” Vye said. “Halmir, can you see me? Can you hear me?”

“I can see you,” he finally said.

Vye hugged her arms, feeling a chill. There was something...off about the world. The Land of the Dead knew she was there. She was like a grain of sand in an oyster’s shell. A beating heart in a land of stillness. A point of light in the darkness.

“Have you been here, this whole time?” Vye asked, “Since you died?”

“No,” Halmir said. His voice was expressionless. His body stiff. “In death, I am no longer tied to any one place or time. I have been to many places and seen into many times since we last stood together. But when I felt you searching for me, I came here.”

“Because this is where you died?”

“Because this is where your mind would think to look for me.”

“I have something important I want to say to you,” Vye finally confessed. But Halmir’s expression and body language gave her nothing. It was like he didn’t care that she was there. “I kinda feel silly now.”

“You came to tell me you loved me.”

Vye nodded. Silence filled the corridor. The deep, dark corridor of Halmir’s death. He only stared into her eyes, unmoved by her words.

“I cannot give you an answer to the question you want to ask,” Halmir finally said.

“How do you know what question I want to ask?”

“You want to know if I loved you, too.”

“And you didn’t,” Vye concluded, crestfallen.

“I don’t know. Love is something that the living can experience. Perhaps I did love you when I was breathing. Now, if I am capable of it at all, I wouldn’t understand it, and I couldn’t express it.”

“For all I know, you could be the dream of my delirious mind.”

“In your dreams, I would have said yes.”

“I have nightmares, too.”

“In your nightmares, I would have said no.”

“I love you. Can’t you say that you used to love me? Can’t you pretend that you still love me?”

“As I’ve said, I’m not the man you remember. I am that part of him that can reach into the world of the living. You should return to that world. I cannot return with you, and you cannot come with me. Not yet.”

“I don’t want to leave you.”

“Don’t be so eager to follow. The things I have seen since my death will startle and amaze you, but only if you lived while you were alive. Otherwise, they might seem mundane. Return to your world for now. There will be plenty of time for wonder when you’re dead.”

“Kiss me,” Vye said.

“No,” Halmir said. “It won’t be what you’re looking for. And it may be more dangerous than you realize.”

Vye didn’t care. She leaned in to kiss him, but then was suddenly engulfed in darkness. Her dream had come to an end.

She was back on one of the plushier chairs in the room with the fireplace. Frost was pacing the room.

“I wish you hadn’t done that,” he said.

“I’m sorry,” Vye said. “I had to try.”

“This isn’t about you or your feelings or your loss,” Frost scolded her. “A great threat is awakening in your world, and you need to be prepared. And one of the things you might need is this, your most powerful tool. To ask questions of the dead. Don’t waste it on your petty needs.”

“It wasn’t petty,” Vye argued, but shied away from Frost’s glance. “Fine. It was a little petty.”

“We will have to try again,” Frost said. “But not now. Now you need to rest.”

“I’m in a coma.”

“Your body is as well rested as it could possibly be. Your mind...”

And Vye’s dream faded to black...