Mother of Wolves (Evalyce Worldshaper Book 1) (14 page)

The import of the words was not lost on Kalla. Cristos sin'Aerodor was second only to the Grand Maester. If even he could not find entrance to Xibalba, what hope did she have.

“Nevertheless, I have to try. I intend to keep my promise,” Kalla said. Sevrus blinked slowly, taking on the look of one conferring with unseen people. No doubt he was speaking with the other Sin'. Behind him, Malik wore a similar expression. The two shared another silent look before the Sevfahlan spoke again.

“Very well, Kalla. Vander is your responsibility. You are free to leave.” His face softened, the traces of a smile appearing. “If you should survive, you will be welcome here once more. Until we should meet again.” Sevrus bowed, touching fist to heart in a gesture of respect, then turned and strode off, never once looking back.

In a vast, gloomy cavern a brooding figure sat on a throne crafted of the interlocking bones of myriad creatures, some of which had not walked the earth in millennia. To all outward appearances the figure looked to be a man, tall, with a flowing mane of silvery hair. Eyes the color of a grey winter sky stared into the distance. Or maybe deep within.

If there had been any others to see, they might have noticed that the figure's countenance changed when looked at side-on, from the corner of the eye. If there had been any to see, they would not have stayed long for they would have found themselves confronted by a terrible apparition, clothed in eldritch light. A great, looming spectral creature, with overlong forelimbs and a head resembling a horse's skull, if ever there was a horse that had sharp teeth. Skeletal wings curled around the body and the eye sockets glowed with a bluish fire. Misty vapor wafted out of the nasal cavern as the being sat lost in thought.

This was Araun, Lord of Living Nightmare and Master of the realm of Xibalba.

For several weeks, mage after mage had attempted to breach the barrier between their world and the lower realm of Xibalba. They had approached places of great power, where the barrier was thinnest and done that which they thought would please the Lord of Living Nightmare, so that they would be allowed access. One had been foolish enough to try and force his way through. Some had made it through the gate, but then there were the guardians to contend with.

None had survived, not intact anyway.

The Lord awaited the one who was coming now. The one in whom he recognized a kindred spirit. If she passed his guardians and passed his test, he would give her what the magi sought, the treasured feather of Ma'at, even though to do so would be to bring about the destruction of one of his own 'children', for Al'dhumarna was a creature crafted of the deepest, darkest fears of humanity.

The foolish humans didn't even realize that it was they who had fostered the Nagali's creation. Araun would not mourn the loss of Al'dhumarna, if the mage and her magisters were successful in their endeavors.

Humans had an overwhelming fear of things they did not understand. It was the god's gift to craft these fears into living nightmares. He gave their guilt, their greed, their envy, and their fear tangible form and allowed them to create their own torment. Many despised the Lord of Living Nightmare for that, for what mortal could comprehend that they brought it upon themselves. And their petty thoughts mattered not one whit to the eldritch creature keeping a silent surveillance over the companions as they traveled.

Kalla stared out the window of the ship, her mind still trying to puzzle out the past several days. As she sat and thought, she idly petted the frost wolf's head. Vander sat wedged between the gunner's and captain's chairs with his head in the mage's lap. The touch was a comfort to both, for it helped Kalla to think and it soothed the wolf's nerves. Grateful to be alive, he still felt guilty because he had been the reason the three had been forced to leave. For two of them, Chryshal had been home for the majority of their lives.

For herself, Kalla had no regrets in her choices. Warryn had been unhappy with her voluntary exile, offering to accompany them. She had gently turned him down, as she had Dogin, the Dashmari Alchemist. That had been a surprise, the Alchemist's offer to travel with them. However, Kalla felt she had more than enough company with not one, but two magisters tied to her. Nor would the
Stymphalian
be pleasant quarters with two more people added. The three of them were pushing the limits as it was.

Kalla
had
been allowed to visit Hauss before they left. The gruff Healer had taken the news in stride, sure that she would be successful and back home where she belonged before long. Hauss had been worked on for the better part of a night and day, but the burns he suffered were gone now. All that was left were a series of scars that dappled the lower left of his face, trailing down his neck and into his collar. His left hand also had burn scars and Kalla guessed that there were a great many more along his left side that she could not see. He wore the scars proudly, as any Arkaddian warrior might. When Vander had shyly approached and offered his apologies the Healer had laughed and thanked the War Mage, for how often does a Healer get the opportunity to earn such? Another example of the Arkaddian ability to take things in stride and find the good in any situation. Surprisingly, Hauss shared Kalla's view of said situation, considering Vander a tool rather than the problem itself. For that, Kalla was silently grateful, for her mentor's opinion still meant a great deal to her.

Her bigger concern was the unexpected upsurge in power. Now that she was aware of them, she could feel the locks blocking that extra power, though she couldn't yet actively shift them. Though her eyes had turned back to normal, she was still graced with the crescent moon marking on her forehead. Her sense of smell and hearing had stayed more sensitized, making her far more conscious of people's moods and true feelings than even her magick did. Had Balgeras given her the power boost? Or merely released the potential already within her?

Then there was the issue of attempting to enter Xibalba. The strongest hotspot was located in Arkaddia, the same spot that the others had tried. Kalla wracked her mind for an answer to the question of traveling to the realm of Xibalba. It should have been a simple thing for any mage to gain entrance. Entry wasn't usually the hard part.

The hard part came after, when confronting the guardians.

Unfortunately, if the Lord of Living Nightmare had sealed the portals, there wouldn't be much she could do. Kalla sighed in frustration. Two days of travel hadn't brought any sudden insights.

Beyond the
Stymphalian's
windows, towering columns of inky black clouds marked the borders of Arkaddia. Even from this distance, Kalla could see the sheets of rain pouring from the unnatural thunderclouds. As the first drops of rain pattered against the ship, a scarlet blur swooped by, leveling out on the mage's side. Amaterasu made a face at the rain, causing Kalla to laugh.

As they flew under the leading edge of the cloudbank, Aleister triggered the ship's shields as Kalla wove a shield around the wyvern. Doing so from this distance was more of a challenge, but she managed to complete it just as lightning forked between the
Stymphalian
and Amaterasu. The wyvern's bellow was swallowed by crashing thunder that shook the ship. The scattered rain turned into a torrential downpour as they crossed the border, causing visibility to drop to near nothing. Aleister flew lower, following Kalla's mental nudges.

The place they sought was not far beyond the Arkaddian border. The closer they could get before landing, the less distance they would need to travel in this horrible weather. The sky growled again, long and loud, as if the clouds themselves were angry at being trapped here. The ship was now close enough to the ground that Kalla could see the destruction wrought by the unnatural rains.

The grass seas were gone, replaced in places by standing lakes of water.

In the near distance, Kalla could just make out a small stand of trees, alone in the vast plains. Another mental nudge and Aleister headed the
Stymphalian
for the cluster of trees. He overflew the grove and circled back, seeking a safe place to land in the marshy grassland. The Sky Fox found what he was looking for and brought the ship to ground with a sigh of relief. Even from inside, they could feel the ship sink into the soft earth. Aleister made a face as Amaterasu landed beside the ship. The wyvern looked less than pleased with the downpour.

Kalla sighed and unbuckled herself. She so did not want to go outside, but if they wanted a decent campsite, she was going to have to go out and provide it. Weaving a shield to keep off the rain, she made her way back to the door. Vander followed and she could tell that he'd woven a similar shield about himself. She let her puzzlement filter to him.

“
I can help. It will make things go faster,
” he said. She twitched a smile and brushed her fingers against his fur as she pressed the panel to open the door. She trudged down the stairs, grimacing as she also sank into the sodden ground. Amaterasu had coiled around the ship, tucking her head up under the front. Kalla turned her attention back to the frost wolf.

“Vander, let's start on opposite sides to walk the circle. Walk it twice, counterclockwise. I'll walk clockwise,” she said.

The wolf nodded acknowledgment and the pair took their places. As Kalla walked, she wove a shield to keep out the rains and another to leech the water from the ground. As she passed Vander and crossed into the area he'd already walked, she could sense that the War Mage had also crafted a shield of protection and a warding to keep others away. By the time they were done, the ground was mostly dry, save for the very center of the circle. Aleister had emerged from the
Stymphalian
and, with Amaterasu's help, gotten a campfire started. He now stood at the shield perimeter, gazing sadly out at the flooded landscape. Kalla and Vander joined him.

“The herds will die, if the rains do not stop. The grasslands will turn into a sea in truth,” Aleister said. Kalla put a hand to his shoulder in silent support. Arkkadia might not be his home now, but it once had been. She knew the magi had tried to turn the storms away, to dissipate them, but it had all been to no avail. The Nagali's sorcery was more than the magi could confront. Just beyond the shield, she could see the trees and the low mound that marked the 'hotspot', the entrance to Xibalba.

Kalla shrugged off her doubts as she stood. Dinner was over. There was no more putting off their mission, no matter how futile it might seem. The Healer bid Amaterasu to keep watch over the ship, fixing it so that the wyvern could leave the shields to hunt if she wished. Kalla was in no way sure how long they would be gone. If they managed to gain entry, time would flow differently there, as it had for Aleister in Inari's Temple. She had tried to get the two magisters to stay behind as well, but they would not be deterred and so it was that all three set out for the mound in the grove.

Magick saturated the very ground around the mound. Closer, one could see that small rocks lined the sides and top, seemingly in a jumble. Kalla unerringly headed for the right side of the low, oblong mound. Here there was an entrance, framed by flat slabs of rock. The ground around the mound was surprisingly dry, the water kept at bay by the magick. The entrance yawned before them, a darker spot in a darkening dusk. The wolf whined as Kalla conjured magelight and tagged it to the two magisters. She shared his feelings. The Healer didn't want to enter the mound either. The magick surrounding it was not the magick of the Kanlon, nor the magick of Mercurius' children. It was the magick of things far stronger and far older. A cold magick that sent shivers up her spine.

Kalla took a deep breath and plunged through the entryway, magisters trailing behind her. The air within the large chamber was oppressive. The chamber had a broad, smooth floor. Along the walls, paintings of nightmarish creatures danced eerily in the bobbing magelight. Skeletal creatures half dog, half horse, tattered flesh still clinging to bone. A giant wolf with two heads. A lion-like beast with a man's head and the sting of a scorpion. Carved into the floor was a massive seven circled spiral, flanked by three smaller spirals the size of a man's hand.

The far side of the room, beyond the spirals, was shrouded in darkness still, but twinkles of blue fire winked at them from high up on the wall. Kalla stepped closer and her magelight illuminated the wall, revealing the source. A painting larger than any of the others, of a bizarre creature with oddly proportioned limbs and a head resembling a dog's skull. Skeletal wings spread out from the being, wingtips brushing the far walls. The blue glitter came from sapphires embedded in the creature's empty eye sockets. The painting cast a baleful look over the chamber, as if daring any to come closer.

Swallowing her fear, Kalla walked to the edge of the great spiral. As she studied the carvings and tried to ignore the sapphire gaze of the beast looming over her, the answer came, abrupt and unbidden.

“I know how to gain entry,” she said softly. She stepped onto the great spiral, stopping before the small spiral closest to the wall, kneeling to the ground. She gestured to the others to do the same. As they took up places before the other spirals, she withdrew her hidden dagger. “We need to make a blood offering, to fill the grooves of the smaller spirals.”

The mage gestured for Vander to give her a paw. He turned uncertain eyes up at her, warily extending a paw and looking away as she drew the sharp blade across his paw pad. Blood welled up from the cut and he held his paw over the small spiral, letting the blood spill into the grooves. When they were full Kalla took his paw and healed it. She repeated the process with Aleister.

Finally it was her turn. She jerked the blade across her palm in a quick gesture, wincing at the sharp pain that followed. She made a fist, letting the blood leak out, onto the last spiral. As the final groove filled in, a soundless concussion of power rocked the chamber, leaving them dazed. They were through. Where the painting had loomed, now a passage extended further on. And yet, the painting was still there. The world beyond overlay the world they had come from.

Kalla rose to her feet, the others doing likewise. She started down the newly opened path. Vander slunk up beside her, ears twitching uncertainly. Aleister moved to her other side, keeping pace with her.

The corridor they followed had smooth, glassy black walls, as if made from obsidian. They followed the corridor for about twenty minutes before they reached a larger chamber. The magelight revealed three smooth walls before them. Kalla snarled, feeling a headache building.

To all appearances they had reached a dead end. As the three of them tumbled out of the corridor and into the chamber a misty light appeared at the far wall. The mist coalesced into a pair of the half dog, half horse creatures. Beside her, Vander growled, mane fluffed.

“
Ghilan,
” he whispered in his companions' minds. Purple fire lit the creatures' empty eye sockets. A low, harsh sound rattled from their throats and it took Kalla moment to realize that they were laughing.

“So. You remember, child of wolves,” rasped one of the creatures. “Despite the fact that the King of Cats cleansed you.” Another rattling laugh and the being turned its fiery gaze to Kalla. “Mother of Wolves, to pass us you must answer our riddle to our satisfaction.”

Kalla nodded. “Very well.”

“Jusst sso,” the other ghilan hissed. “Tell uss- what is the greatesst of all illusionss?”

“
Time…” said
Aleister slowly, remembering his visit to the Temple of Inari, where his week had been a mere two days to Kalla, locked outside. Vander merely shrugged an agreement. His attention was still focused on the ghilan, his mind a flurry of anxiety. She wondered when and why he had met the ghilan before.

“Time,” Kalla said, echoing her magister's mindvoice. The ghilan stared at her a moment, weighing the answer. One nodded.

“Correct.” It disappeared.

“You may passs,” the second said. As it too disappeared back into mist, the wall behind it shimmered and winked out, leaving the passage open. Vander relaxed as the creatures vanished.

The trio followed the newly opened passage for another twenty minutes or so, before reaching a second chamber. This one held the twin-headed wolf from the paintings. As they entered, the giant ink-black wolf rose to its haunches, ears pricked forward. Beyond the wolf, they could see the continuation of the passage. Bones littered the chamber, a mute testament to those foolish enough to try their luck. Kalla could sense that some of the bones had once belonged to magi, explaining what had happened to some of the missing ones. Not all of the bones littering the chamber were human either. Among the scattered remnants, Kalla glimpsed what looked to be a dragon's skull, save that it was far too small. Close to it lay a wickedly curved claw unlike any she was familiar with.

“We are Garm, guardian of Xibalba. We give you this chance. Turn back. Once we ask our question an answer must be given and payment exacted.” Amber eyes blinked slowly in the magelight.

“What payment, great Garm?” Kalla asked.

“Answer correctly and you may pass unscathed. Answer incorrectly and you will join the bones of those who came before. No answer is considered a wrong answer. Each of you must answer the same question, according to your own hearts,” Garm rumbled.

Kalla shared a look with the others. Vander's ears drooped, and he rubbed his head against her leg for assurance. Aleister merely gave her a mischievous grin. The Sky Fox was by far the more confident of the two. From deep within, the mage felt some of the locks shift, ever so slightly. She stood tall, meeting the guardian's amber gaze.

“Very well, we will answer,” Kalla said, low and calm. Garm merely blinked at her again.

“As you will…” the left head sighed.

“What are three things of greatest value in the world, past, present and future?” the other growled.

Kalla pondered the question for a moment. Many answers tumbled through her mind and she discarded them all. Too predictable. She let her mind wander and images flashed past. Warryn and Shelk, hunched over books in the Archives. Hauss, the gruff Arkaddian attempting to teach a young Kalla how to play the thunderdrums. Amaterasu, swooping around the
Stymphalian
. Aleister, just after he'd reappeared from Inari's temple. Vander, lying on the stone table, at the mercy of the Nameless.

“Friendship,” Kalla said softly. She wasn't aware that she'd shared the thoughts with the others until she felt Vander press against her leg. To the other side, Aleister placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. The mage lay a hand to the frost wolf's head and with her other covered Aleister's, squeezing it gently.

“
Acceptance.
” The frost wolf's quiet mindvoice carried more confidence than it had before. He now stood alert and calm. Apparently Garm could hear Vander as well because the left head gave a nod.

“A second chance,” Aleister's lilting voice followed on the heels of Vander's answer.

Garm lowered his heads, till they were level with Kalla's. She held her ground, fighting the urge to back up.

“Why?” the twin muzzles growled out.

“Because they have no price,” three voices chanted back at the giant guardian. They exchanged sheepish looks, when they realized they had spoken at the same time. Garm sat back, seeming to grin.

“Very good. You are free to pass,” he rumbled. Kalla bowed to the giant wolf and the three edged by, skirting the cavern along the wall, trying to avoid the gleaming white bones scattered around the chamber. It was with a collective sigh of relief that they slipped through the exit and into the corridor beyond.

More traveling, shunted along in a single direction. Kalla supposed it was a good thing that there were no side passages, that the trip thus far had been straightforward, but Balgeras' teeth it was boring! It seemed as though they had been walking this corridor for ages. Their steps were beginning to drag. Kalla wondered how their time within Xibalba had passed for the wyvern, stuck watching the ship. Kalla felt bad. It seemed that Amaterasu got left behind quite often. The wyvern accepted that there were places she simply could not go because she was so large, but Kalla hoped that trend would change once they left Xibalba.

The bobbing magelights illuminated the approach of another chamber ahead. The trio slowed. After the last two guardians, Kalla was almost afraid of what might be required here. She stepped through, into a chamber like the first, with no exit. A statue stood in the middle of the chamber. As they drew nearer, the statue shifted. Stone cracked and fell away in great chunks, revealing the last of the guardians depicted in the paintings. A manticora, a beast with the body of a lion, the head of a man, and the sting of a scorpion. The creature's deadly tail lashed the ground twice before curling over its back.

“Greetings, mage,” the manticora purred. Red eyes fixed themselves on the group. “You have passed the ghilan and you have passed Garm. I am the final guardian. Pass my test and you win your audience with the Lord of Living Nightmare.

“Mage, you and your magisters have made it farther than any in a very long time. Why do you seek to face the Lord so badly?” The manticora's tail twitched again. Kalla frowned.

“We seek the Lord of Living Nightmare because it is he that has the Quill of Ma'at. We need it to recreate the binding of Al'dhumarna,” she replied.

The manticora laughed, a deep malicious sound. “What makes you think the Lord would give you the Quill, mage? Mayhap he does not wish the Nagali sealed once more.”

Kalla's eyes widened. “Why would the Lord of Xibalba wish the Nagali free?”

“Do you know what it is the Lord of Living Nightmare does, little mage?” the manticora asked.

“He brings the nightmares to us,” she relied, voice low.

“No! He merely gives shape and form to the hearts of men. Insatiable greed, bitter envy, burning lust, gnawing guilt. And fear. Fear above all else, for men fear so much. He brings them to life, these dark emotions. The reverse is true as well. He can breathe life into bright emotions just as easily.

“But you do not learn. Humans never learn. You fear and despise the Lord, when it is you who shape your own torment. Al'dhumarna is one such creation.” The guardian favored them with a malevolent grin.

Kalla's mind spun with the implications of what the manticora had told them. If it were true, why should the Lord of Xibalba be willing to help them?

“Nevertheless, we must try,” she said. “What is your test, that we may pass?”

The sting twitched again, as if the guardian were irritated. “Very well. Answer this and you may pass- What is the mark of true wisdom?”

Thinking of all the manticora had just told them, Kalla met the guardian's gaze and answered without hesitation.

“It is to acknowledge that one knows nothing at all.” A whisper through her soul and more of the locks slid open. The two magisters looked to her and from their expressions, she guessed that her eyes had changed once more. Her swirling thoughts stilled, the calm collectedness gathering itself around her once more.

“You may proceed. Let's see if you pass Lord Araun's test intact.” The manticora laughed once more and with a flash of light, the guardian was gone, leaving only the stone fragments littering the floor to show that it had been there at all. The light had revealed the exit as well, on the far side of the chamber.