Rise of the Phoenix (Return To Avalore #2) (26 page)

Brilliant light shone through the crystal as though it had many facets, but Brienne knew the surface to be smooth.
“How does that thing work, anyway?”

Evan shrugged.
“If I had to guess, I’d say it derives its power from a spell. At least one of the Elders must be a caster. So secretive that lot.”
He thought for a moment.
“They had to have changed or altered the spell. How else would it track Rhiannon one day, and the scroll the next?”

She couldn’t believe she’d never heard of this town, much less its inhabitants.
“It’s odd that the scroll would be found in a deserted city.”

“I’ve sent several teams here to recover what they could. I even led the first one, but nothing stood out. It was like they’d all disappeared into thin air one day.”
Evan began his descent.
“If there was a scroll, we never found it.”

“Do you remember where your mother met the woman?”
Brienne looked at the ancient architecture on the city’s edges. The older buildings in Avalore still bore some resemblance to these. The long, narrow edifices used to house several families, usually of the same lineage. Often siblings would occupy these homes so that their offspring would grow together.

From high above, she could see the city’s circular layout. Every building had a purpose, the position exact. The outer circle was lowest to the ground. Streets extended from the center outward like rays of the sun stretching to the exterior. Each circle coming in toward the center was higher than the last, if only by a few feet, until it culminated at the circular dais they landed on at the very center.

As far as she could see, there was nothing and no one in the city. Not a bird chirped. Even the breeze had died, leaving the city in a heavy, oppressive heat.

Ritualistic symbols graced the facings of each building overlooking the center platform where a stone altar cast a long, exaggerated shadow on the building to the west.

Evan stood close, his eyes scanning for any threat. “Down there is where Mother met the woman. He pointed toward a narrow stone staircase going down to the lower levels.

“Shall we?”

It wasn’t quite midday and the sun shone bright, yet its rays didn’t penetrate the recesses of the lower levels. Shadows stretched toward them, making Brienne shiver. “Was it like this when you were here before?” Why she whispered, she didn’t know. It wasn’t like there was anyone there to hear them.

“I don’t recall it being so oppressive when I was a child, but it was like this when I came with the team.”
He took her elbow, keeping her close.

They were three levels down from the dais when Evan turned onto a smaller footpath crossing between the streets to the dwellings and buildings of that level. “It’s this way.” Evan took the lead, but retained possession of her hand. The path, too narrow for walking side by side, had broken pots and items strewn across it, making it difficult to walk.

“This is where I hid.” He pointed to a spot where one building jutted out a couple of inches farther than the others did.

Looking at it, she smiled. Only a child would think the small protrusion would hide him from sight.

“There to the right. Mother met the woman in front of the building with the rounded doorway. It used to be a shop of some sort. There was nothing left in the display cases when the team and I came in.”

Brienne gave his hand a little squeeze. His matter-of-fact words and confident air didn’t show it, but his energy dragged and slowed.

The heavy wooden door hung at an awkward angle on a single rusted hinge. She expected a loud screeching sound as Evan shoved it open for her to enter, but even that was silent. Gooseflesh erupted on her arms and an ice-cold blast rushed down her spine. The power emanating from the little shop swamped her, definitely magic at work. A wary traveller might have been off put, but spell casting was part of her heritage. She was exposed to all manner of spells as a child and remembered the energy well. The little display of warding energy was nothing more than a thinly veiled message. It said. “This is my domain, and I protect what is mine.”

Brienne took two steps then stopped to look around. Spells, even those cast decades past, could still pack a heavy punch. Nothing stood out as dangerous, but her energy prickled. Gasping, she rubbed at her left arm.

“What’s wrong?” Evan pulled her close, gathering energy.

Shaking off the unease, she focused her attention to the left. “Nothing. My energy is sensitive to this kind of thing.”

When he refused to relinquish his hold on her, Brienne smiled. She could get used to having someone care about her well-being. “I’m fine. Really, I am. Some of my ancestors on my mother’s side were spell casters. I can feel the power in the air. It’s like a pull, drawing me to the left.”

Evan’s eyes grew wide as he swung his gaze past her in the direction she indicated. “Were you taught to cast?” He looked at her again.

Heat rushed up her cheeks, but she held her head high and maintained eye contact. “They tried teaching me when I was younger, but I wasn’t interested. Now, there are so few casters left, I wish I’d been more obliging.” She looked left, more to escape his scrutiny than a desire to see what was there. “The few spells I do remember aren’t very useful. Mostly it’s the feel of the energy that guides me.”

He tugged on the elbow he’d retained in his hand until she looked at him again. “It’s okay if you don’t know everything. You do know that, don’t you?”

“Yes, but it doesn’t mean I don’t wish I’d paid more attention.” Pulling out of his soft grip, she turned and faced left. “This is where we need to look. I’m certain of it. Someone took great care to cast a warding spell here. It’s subtle, but it’s there.”

“Perhaps we shouldn’t get too close. If they really didn’t want anything disturbed, they could have set another spell, a more harmful one.”

Brienne expanded her energy to encompass the entire room, finding nothing amiss. “No. I don’t think so. It doesn’t feel angry or malevolent, just possessive.”

Stepping in front of her, Evan took the lead. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust her judgement, but if some trap lay in wait, he wanted to be the one to take the hit.

Something was different this time. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but it was. Dust lay thick on every surface as though it had been undisturbed since the day the casters had disappeared, but he knew better. It was too even, too still. “Can you tell if someone is trying to deceive us?”

“What do you mean?” When Brienne tried stepping around him, Evan put his arm out, stopping her from going forward.

“Can you tell if a spell has been cast to throw us off? Take the dust for instance. To the naked eye, it looks like an even layer, but my phoenix sees a pattern. And if you look toward that chest on the far wall straight on, it’s there, but you have to concentrate to really notice it. Yet if you look a foot on either side of it, it’s clear as can be.”

Brienne took a slow breath and expanded her energy again. The moment she did, a strong resistance made her falter.
“That’s what we need to look at. This is going to sound odd, but I don’t think we’re alone, or if we are, we won’t be for long. Let’s get what we came for and get out of here.”

“Why, what are you feeling?”
Evan followed her lead and slid into telepathic communication.

“Nothing more than resistance to energy probing, but it makes me uneasy.”

“Maybe we should just—”

“No. We can’t. If we leave now, we’ll never find the scroll. Too much is at stake.”
Her small hand heated through his T-shirt where she rested it on his back.
“Besides, it’s probably just another warding spell.”

Brienne was right. It was silly to walk away when they were so close. Spells were very much in use, but the uneasiness was more of a nuisance than a threat.

“Stay behind me, and stay close.”
She’d only just recovered from the attack in the Dark Lands, so he sure as hell wasn’t allowing her to put herself in danger.

An even layer of dust covered the chest, just as it did everything else in the room, but it wasn’t right. No footprints marred the surface of the filthy floor, yet Evan would swear fresh energy pulsed around the room as though the spell caster came back to renew whatever they’d wrought every now and then. A single latch held the chest closed, yet there were no locks, nothing to keep anyone from opening it. Time stood still as he reached and opened the lid.

He didn’t know what he’d expected, but for some reason, he thought something would happen, yet everything remained quiet.

Brienne came to stand beside him to peer into the nearly empty chest. Inside were several narrow strips of leather with metal clasps attached at the center of each.

“I’ve seen these before.” Brienne reached inside and lifted one of the pieces. “My gridom stone, the one we used when I was in the Dark Lands, wasn’t always on twine. The stone had hung on one of these. It was too badly damaged in a battle and I had to replace it with twine.”

Evan’s brows furrowed. “You’re certain?”

She stared at the empty clasp. “I’m sure. The pewter in the clasp bolsters the power of the stone. Before it broke, the necklace subdued my energy so much that you could have been next to me and not have known.”

“Brienne.” A soft, raspy voice sounded behind them. “I must admit, I am a little surprised to see you here.”

Brienne didn’t have time to turn before Evan had her pinned behind him against the chest. A small woman with silver-grey hair stood in the center of the room. The familiar features had aged, but the eyes hadn’t changed. Dark brown pools, shimmering and glistening, saw right through him. No sound had alerted him of her approach, yet there she was.

“My name is Evan Mayfield. Who might you be?” He didn’t budge, nor did he allow Brienne movement.

The woman’s smile didn’t reach her eyes. “My name is Aleani. I remember you well, young Evan.” Tilting her head to the side, she tried to peer around him to see Brienne. “You would stop an old woman from seeing the only family she has left?”

“What is she talking about?”

Brienne’s forehead pressed against his back.
“Aleani Tigan was my great-grandmother’s name. She disappeared when the darkness began to spread.”

“I mean no disrespect, but many deceivers have surfaced in the dark times following my mother’s demise. How do I know you tell the truth?”

“I suppose you do not. Brienne could tell you if you’d let her see me.”

Evan searched the woman’s energy but found nothing indicating malice. “Could I be so bold as to ask your surname?”

The woman’s eyes narrowed and her lips pursed. “Tigan. My name is Aleani Tigan.”

“Evan, please, I’m not defenseless. Let me see her.”

The muscles of his back tightened in protest even as he took a small step forward.

“This one is worthy of being the mate to my one and only great-granddaughter.” Aleani’s smile brightened her face when she set eyes on Brienne, making her look years younger. “He protects you well.” She nodded and glanced back at Evan. “Now, if you’ll ask him to release his energy, I’d be grateful. I’m too old to be battling young men.”

“I… where did you go? Why did you leave us?” Brienne’s voice cracked. “When we needed to band together, you left and never looked back.”

The woman’s smile faltered. “I did not wish to leave, but I had no other choice.”

Evan watched as the hardened woman he’d first met in the Dark Lands came back. Brienne’s shoulders straightened and her chin jutted upward. “It matters little now. I survived those dark days on my own.”

Aleani stared at Brienne, her eyes glazing for a moment before clearing. “I know you didn’t come all this way on the off chance of meeting an old woman you thought long dead.”

Nodding, Brienne took a step closer to the woman she once knew. “No, we’re looking for a scroll and have reason to believe it may be found here.”

“My heart wishes to keep you from pain and suffering, Brienne. I may not have been present in your life, but you are a part of me.” Before Brienne could interrupt, the woman continued. “The scroll you seek is not all you hope for,” she sighed. “My heart doesn’t wish it, but I have no choice but to render it to you.” Aleani glanced at Evan. “Your mother, on the day you followed her to this village, gave me the scrolls in exchange for two enchanted gridoms, one for your sister and the other for her companion.”

Evan’s eyes grew wide. “Tell me what you know. Why didn’t you come forward with this before? We could have found Rhiannon so much sooner.” He shook his head. “What do you mean, scrolls? There is more than one?”

Aleani nodded, dropping her gaze to the floor. After a moment, she squared her shoulders and stood tall once more. “I cannot give you the answers you seek. I shall not break the confidence of my queen even though she is long gone from this world. It was foretold that this day would come. That the child who’d followed our queen that day would come for one scroll, and his mate would accompany him requesting the other. It was made very clear that I was not to interfere.”

“She knew. Mother knew I would follow.”

“Of course she did, child. Your mother was wise beyond measure. Her visions held power, more so even than most other queens. She was a special woman.”