The Gates of Memory, стр. 70
Toren spoke up for the first time since entering the village. “What happened here?”
“I’m not sure,” Sheren admitted. “No warleader is permitted within two leagues of this village, thanks to an order far older than any elder alive. But I’ve never been able to learn what happened.”
“The damage is unlike anything I’ve ever seen,” Toren noted.
“The forces that fought here were powerful,” Sheren agreed. “But I’ve learned little beyond that.”
She turned her attention to Alena. “When I felt you coming, I hoped to enlist your aid.”
“How did you notice me? You said you were aware of me before cresting the ridge.”
“It’s one of the benefits of living here. I said it was quiet, and I meant it. Attempt a soulwalk here and find out for yourself.”
Alena did. She closed her eyes and sought out the world of souls. And found nothing. The web of interconnectedness that bound all living things didn’t exist here. A chill, deeper than any frost, ran through her veins. This village wasn’t just destroyed, it had been ripped from the threads of the rest of the world. It reminded her, in some small way, of the void she had almost been trapped in the last time she faced the Lolani queen.
Unlike that void, though, there were some differences.
For one, she saw ghosts.
As Sheren had described them, they looked much the same as anyone else. They roamed the streets of the village and some seemed to live within the homes’ walls.
She knew they were ghosts because they didn’t possess the same threads as the living. Thanks to the complete lack of life, the bonds she, Jace, Toren, and Sheren possessed glowed like gold. The ghosts had none.
She understood now how Sheren had noticed her. Without the dim hum of a web of life, Alena could reach farther than before. It still only amounted to a league or so, if she was to guess, but it was much farther than her typical limits.
Alena came out of the soulwalk and returned to the group. “I understand.” She couldn’t quite bring herself to say that she had seen the ghosts. Jace would give her grief for the rest of her days. “What aid do you seek?”
“There’s a new creature in these woods, one not of flesh, that is consuming the ghosts. I want you to help me find it.”
“And then?”
“Then we need to kill it.”
35
Say one thing for the Falari elders: once they made a decision, the whole mountain moved to make that decision a reality.
A smaller group of elders broke from the circle and indicated that Regar should follow them. Numerous guards joined the party.
Curious, and without instructions to the contrary, Brandt followed the group to the gate. Ana joined him, and before they made it past the antechamber Ren fell in beside them. “It’s been years since the gate has even been visited. Change follows in your footsteps.”
“Does that concern you?” Ana asked.
“Of course. But if the elders believe this is the way, I shall follow.”
The elders led them deeper into the mountain. Brandt briefly considered the massive amount of stone above them, then pushed the thought from his mind. Such thoughts were the equivalent of looking down when climbing high peaks. They caused the heart to race and the mind to lose focus.
“I wonder,” Ana said, “if you are continually exposed to the impossible, do you lose your sense of wonder?”
Despite the urgency of their steps and the import of their task, Ana’s question thrust him into more peaceful times, reminding him of long walks and quiet overlooks. He smiled. “You’re thinking of these tunnels?”
“And the gates, and the idea of bringing a person from a place hundreds of leagues away here in a moment. When we were wolfblades, all of this was impossible.”
“And it still feels as though we are swimming on the surface of a very deep lake.”
Ana nodded.
“Wonder is in our own eyes,” Ren said, “not in the mysteries of the world.”
In response to their surprised glances, Ren continued. “There is wonder in a cup of tea, in the birth of a child, the death of a foe, and in the rising of the sun. It is how we look at the world, not the world itself.”
“You should have been a poet,” Ana said.
“Who says that I’m not?” Ren answered with a smile.
They entered a maze.
Not as a metaphor, either. Brandt saw hallways that ended in a blank wall. They turned, turned, and turned again. Despite Brandt’s best efforts, he was soon lost.
Then they came to a massive wooden door. The elders advanced as a group, each inserting a key that dangled on chains previously hidden under their shirts. Five keys, all turned at once. Brandt heard the sounds of massive weights being moved on the other side of the door. His stone affinity sang notes unlike any he had heard before.
The doors opened smoothly, revealing a now-familiar blue glow. Another gate, just like the ones outside Landow and underneath the emperor’s palace.
He felt its power coursing through him and stood amazed at its construction. What had happened to those who came before? Their skills were so far beyond imagination. Had they left? Had disaster befallen them? Ren believed they’d been attacked, but what could stand against people who could create such wonders?
His questions fled when the elders gave Regar permission to touch the gate. He nodded solemnly. “It will take some time. I first must contact him and wait for him to approach his own gate.”
The air in the room felt thick. Guards took position around the chamber, arrows nocked and hands on bowstrings.