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He hoped that she was, indeed, still tracking them. That meant he would ultimately connect with her again when they all reached the library. He vowed that even if she told him she didn’t want to hear it, he would never let another day go by where he didn’t tell her how much he loved her.

“It appears we will be delayed,” Ini-herit said, making Quincy focus on their path.

Ahead of them churned a bank of storm clouds. Even from their distance, they saw the deluge of rain produced by those clouds. Lightning streaked to the earth, generating a low rumble a few seconds later.

“Can’t we go around it?” Quincy asked.

“No,” Alexius said. The Waresti second commander flew between Ini-herit and Clara Kate and looked grim. “Judging by wind speed and the span of those clouds against the horizon, by the time we flew sideways in either direction, the storm would catch us. We must seek shelter.”

Fortunately, they were near a series of mountains. Finding a cave large enough to hold them didn’t end up being too difficult. Within ten minutes, they all sat inside the cave with balls of light bouncing along the ceiling as the storm raged outside.

Although Quincy wanted to keep moving, he was smart enough to know they couldn’t risk flying in this weather. He decided to take this opportunity to rest, not knowing when he would next get to do so. Picking a spot in a relatively secluded part of the cave, he settled down on the hard ground and closed his eyes.

Miraculously, he dozed. His dreams were filled with images of Sophia in varying states of distress. His eyes flew open on the tail-end of a dream in which she screamed out to him for help just before an arrow pierced her heart.

His own heart pounded at a gallop as he oriented himself. He realized he had rolled onto his side and faced a wall of rock. The hiss of rain continued to fill the cave.

“What was I like on the human plane?”

Quincy blinked in surprise when he heard Ini-herit speak from just a couple of feet away.

“I wondered if you’d ever ask,” Clara Kate replied.

Her soft voice was nearly as close. Quincy realized the pair had also retreated to this quieter part of the cave and must believe he was still asleep so they could talk freely. Although he considered making some kind of movement or giving them another indication that he was awake, he couldn’t deny a morbid curiosity over the answer to his elder’s question. So he remained silent.

“I have hesitated to discuss it with you,” Ini-herit said. “I did not want to cause you undue pain.”

That made Quincy wince. He was sure that just by being within Clara Kate’s line of sight every day, the elder caused her pain. He knew she would never say such a thing, however, and she didn’t surprise him.

“You can feel free to ask me anything you’d like, Harry—uh, Ini-herit.”

“Harry?”

“Um, yeah. Sorry about that. It was a nickname. Mrs. B started using it when you were little because it was easier for your friends to pronounce.”

“I see.”

“So, as far as what you were like,” Clara Kate said in an obvious attempt to turn the conversation, “you were a straight-A student…president of the student body with a good number of friends. You were a bit like my dad was as a human, seeing as you were raised by the same foster mom. You had a southern accent and spoke in a way that reflected good grammar, and you took care to convey appropriate manners.”

“A gentleman,” Ini-herit concluded.

“Oh, not always.”

Her tone had Quincy’s eyebrows rising.
Really?

“The storm is clearing,” came Alexius’ voice. “Wake Quincy so we can depart.”

He abruptly forgot all about whatever had occurred between C.K. and Ini-herit as his mind switched gears. Sophia, Tate and Ariana needed them.

It was time to move on.

They barely managed to avoid the storm. Sophia was very impressed with the clever maneuvering by the Mercesti. What surprised her most was that it was the quiet female, Oria, who led them.

Melanthe explained that Oria was a very rare Mercesti. She used to be a Wymzesti and had retained a large portion of her former class’s traits. She was able to guide them using heightened instincts, predicting the best path to avoid any potential problems.

“I’m seeing a trend among you,” Sophia said to Melanthe as they flew side by side.

“You are referring to the fact that there are so many of us with unusual abilities for Mercesti, I assume?”

“Yes.” Sophia saw Derian’s eyes move between the two of them and knew he was listening from his position on the other side of Melanthe. He didn’t look pleased, but from what she had seen, he never did. “I’m not trying to pry and I promise not to say anything to anyone if it’s an issue. I just noticed it and found it…interesting.”

“You are very perceptive, Sophia,” Melanthe said with a small smile. “You pick up on things that others might miss.”

Not everything, Sophia thought, her heart sinking as she thought of Quincy. How many signs had he given her over the years that she had missed or ignored? She had been so convinced of her conclusion that he couldn’t stand the sight of her that when she was presented with another truth, she threw it back in his face.

Perceptive? Maybe. Flexible? Apparently not.

“Derian discovered some time ago that Grolkinei deliberately targeted converts based upon their abilities,” Melanthe continued. “He sent scouts across the mainland seeking out Estilorians with powerful enough skills that those skills would likely survive a conversion. Then his mentally-gifted Mercesti used their abilities to drive those Estilorians to commit an act that would convert them.”

Sophia blinked at that. What she described was exactly what had happened to Zachariah. As the Gloresti second commander, he had been a grand prize for Grolkinei. Zachariah had maintained enough of his former self after converting, however, that he refused to join Grolkinei’s army and instead exiled himself for fifty years, right up until he met Tate.

“That’s awful,” she said.

She thought of how she would feel to be in that position…mentally assaulted and forced to kill or intend to kill another being, resulting in conversion into what others perceived to be a monster. Because she now knew Melanthe and Oria, she knew that even gentle beings who were good at their cores could be pushed to act upon buried impulses if their mental defenses weren’t strong enough. Although she was curious about what Melanthe had done to convert, she would never ask.

“Derian began gathering others like him,” Melanthe said, her tone subdued. “Those who refused to serve Grolkinei and opted to live in exile. And he started following Grolkinei’s army. Whenever he could, he interfered with their plans, preventing forced conversions.” She glanced over at him, then said in an even softer tone, “And whenever he arrived too late, he did what he could to rescue the converted.”

Sophia easily pieced the rest together. The two of them had obviously met that way. She imagined they had started the encampment together, providing a place where exiled Mercesti could dwell without fear of judgment. It was all rather amazing.

“What did you used to be, Derian?” she asked. “Or am I not allowed to ask?”

The male remained silent, but Melanthe answered, “He was a Gloresti.”

That surprised her. Gloresti were among the most difficult to convert because their base natures centered around loyalty and the protection of others.

“Oh,” she managed. “Well, Zachariah might be happy to find out he’s not the only one.”

The sharp red glare she got from Derian had her eyes going wide. What had she said now?

“Ye speak of commander Zachariah?” he asked.

“Yes.” She shifted her gaze from Melanthe, who looked troubled, back to Derian. “He was also forced to convert about fifty years ago.”

There was a long silence. Eventually, Melanthe said, “We all thought he was dead. Derian was deeply troubled when we received the news.”

Sophia nodded in understanding. “Everyone thought that.” She belatedly wondered how Derian was reacting to the fact that he wasn’t the only Gloresti who had been “encouraged” to convert.

“How do ye know this?” he asked.

“Zachariah resurfaced a couple of months ago. He helped save my cousin’s life.”

“Where is he now?”

Frowning, Sophia admitted, “I don’t know. When I last saw him, he was, uh, incapacitated by
archigos
Knorbis.”

“What?” Melanthe gasped.

“I don’t know why or how, but
archigos
Knorbis somehow made Zachariah fall to the ground. The elder obviously wanted to get my cousin and my friend away from him.”

“Zachariah presented a threat to the Wymzesti elder?” Derian asked with a dark expression.

“Well, since the elder was after my cousin, and Zachariah is paired with her for her protection, then I guess you could say that.”

She found Derian’s stare disconcerting. It felt as though he was trying to pry more from her with just a look. Indeed, she almost found herself blurting more, but stopped in time.

“I believe that I might just have to press ye for more information, after all,” the male said.

Sophia swallowed hard at that. A signal from Oria had all of them descending, which was a relief. She wasn’t sure what she should share with Derian and what she should keep to herself. What if he or one of these other Mercesti decided they had nothing to lose in trying to acquire the Elder Scroll for themselves? The artifact had already driven other beings to some extreme behavior, after all. She felt it was better for all of them if she kept the details to herself.

As they got closer to the ground, she took in the vast expanse of green in front of them. It looked like the densest, most overrun forest she had ever seen. The trees resembled none of those surrounding her homeland.

Melanthe turned to her as they landed and said, “We walk through Hoygul’s jungle.”

A jungle? Sophia looked more closely at the trees and foliage and nodded in recognition. Although she hadn’t ever seen a jungle, she had certainly learned about them through her mother’s teachings. If it meant getting to the map leading to the library, she was willing to trek through a jungle.

“Ye’ll want to stay close,” Derian said, hefting the lochaber axe that he had carried with him from the encampment. “The wildlife in here will eat ye whole.”

Sophia tilted her head in consideration as she followed the others into the thick foliage. “I think I’ll be okay,” she said. “After all, I can always eat them first.”

Malukali learned after the third time she was dosed with whatever sedative the Mercesti were feeding her that she should give no indication she was awake when she managed to surface. This was a hard lesson learned.

Now, as sleep slowly eased from her mind, she focused on controlling her breathing and other responses so that she still seemed asleep to anyone observing her.

She knew she was bound to a flat surface of some kind. Her arms and legs were positioned in a spread-eagle pose and secured with tight shackles. Pain rolled through her, but she welcomed it in lieu of the numb, painless void from which she had just surfaced. She would rather hurt than be unaware…mentally nebulous.

The moment her mind cleared enough, she reached out to her husband.

Knorbis?

Malukali! Oh, thank God.

Knorbis, where are you? You aren’t still here at Kanika’s, are you?

No. Oh, honey—I had to leave you. I’m so sorry.

His emotion was so powerful that she feared she would ruin her plans to fool her captors by weeping. Instead, she used her own power to calm them both.

It’s okay, my love
, she thought, keeping her tone gentle. She had never sensed such misery and self-loathing in her husband. It frightened her.
Are you all right?

No
, he returned.

Her fear heightened. When she heard her own breathing alter and someone within the room with her made a sound indicating movement, she forced herself to smooth it back out. She used a form of meditation to help.

Metis had me bring Tate and Ariana to her, telling me she would free you if I did
, he thought.
I’ve since discovered that Eirik is in league with her and now we’re all on the way to the library
.

She couldn’t even compose a response to that, she was so shocked.

I’ve been a fool, and I’ve failed you.

Please don’t say that, love. I would have done the same in your place.

He hesitated, but she sensed a tiny portion of his guilt easing at her words. She knew he felt her sincerity through their connection.

I should have foreseen this
, he conveyed miserably.
The fact that we are in this position is unforgiveable
.
For all of my power and abilities, I am here—miles from you as you lie alone and in terrible pain—leading the one being we didn’t want to have the scroll right to it
.

Knorbis…how were you to think clearly when half of you has been lying here with me, even if only in thought?

There was a long pause, during which time she sensed him working hard to collect himself. She had to put herself into a deeper meditative state to keep from losing her composure and giving herself away.

I love you so much
, he thought at last.

I love you, too.

She felt another layer of his crippling emotion ease at the words. Regrouping, he conveyed,
There is a male Mercesti here who can dampen thoughts. He isn’t strong enough to keep you out of my mind, but he’s preventing Tate from connecting with Tiege. I doubt Zachariah will be able to sense her, either. I’m too exhausted to counteract what he’s doing. Can you?

Easing from her meditation so she could try, she realized that there was still some inhibitor in her system preventing her from truly exercising her mental powers. She had connected with Knorbis due to the depth of their connection and his equally strong mental abilities, but at the moment, she couldn’t even sense the other elders.