Leoht (BloodRunes: Book 3) Read online

  “Do these voices in your head have names?” Katya asked her and to his relief Layna actually gave a little laugh at the question.

  “Actually, they do. Cliodhna, Naoise, and Kai. It’s the Three.”

  “So what happened with Nuko?” Gryffon asked, still stuck on what kind of mistake creatures such as she was describing could have made and be so concerned about, and not at all ready to think about the ramifications of Layna’s claims about the Three.

  “Right. When he wouldn’t give up his ambitious talk about staying and ruling over the ones they helped, the Elders decided that some isolation would do him good. Since we only occupy a small portion of this world, they felt that it would be safe to imprison him on it in the midst of the chaotic magic. They thought that by the time we had evolved enough to be able to cross and tame the wild magics to get to him, that he would have learned his lesson and could be freed to rejoin them. They didn’t realize quite how tainted his thoughts had become, and their belated realization of how dangerous he is made them believe that his presence here would be benign. Unfortunately, they didn’t count on him creating the Bloodstone which has allowed him to interfere with us, poisoning our race with his own ambitions. The Massacre was due to his dark influence, and they said that the very moods of the people could be affected by the dark aura seeping out from him. Apparently, Aileen’s worries were more accurate than we thought. And, because of whatever this problem is the Three are dealing with - they refused to tell me what it was - they didn’t notice that it had gotten so out of hand. That’s why they are breaking their normal code and chose to interfere themselves in a more direct manner. I’m told that I am now bonded to them so that they can see our world through me, and they can communicate with me.”

  Gryffon felt an odd emotion wash over him and he resisted the urge to pull his hand out of Layna’s - and was immediately embarrassed by the thought. It was still Layna, after all, just because she had gods watching through her…

  But she wasn’t finished. “They gathered together the power they are able to wield here, which isn’t much being so far away, to bring us this sword. Leoht was instrumental in stopping the Dark King, who had harnessed the power of the Bloodstone previously, and they believe it can help us destroy it altogether now.”

  “Us, as in the human race, or us as in we three?”

  “We three. Kai said that he could feel that all of us had a part to play in how this would all turn out.” Suddenly Layna’s eyes went white and she froze, cocking her head to one side as if listening to some unknown sound. At this, Gryffon did let go of her hand. She murmured something incoherent to herself, oblivious to his reaction. She blinked and her eyes cleared once more. She looked down, obviously embarrassed by the next bit of information she had to pass along, “Apparently I am the one who needs to use the sword, don’t ask me why, but you two will have very important parts to play; and without all three of us acting together, the world could fall into his hands.”

  “What makes them think I want anything to do with it?” Katya asked.

  Layna smiled knowingly. “They said that there’s something you’re looking for. Something that you can only find in doing this with us.” Katya had a strange expression on her face and Layna added, “They said ‘yes’.”

  “To what?”

  “I don’t know,” Layna joked, “You’re the one with the question.” Her face turned serious, “Would you really just sit by and watch idly while our world is torn apart by darkness regardless?” Katya just fidgeted uncomfortably, but she didn’t actually say she wouldn’t go with them. “Look, I know it’s a lot to take in, when we first got involved all I wanted to do was pass the information on to those better equipped to deal with the problem. But now that the problem has grown exponentially bigger, I’ve come to realize that there is no one equipped to handle it, it’s up to those who have seen what the evil can do and want to stop it that must rise above and learn how to prepare ourselves to deal with it. We have to believe that the world can be changed for the better by the actions of a few individuals fighting for what’s right. We have to try. Please?” she implored Katya who stared stoically down at the floor, and then finally nodded. Layna looked over at him and seemed to contemplate if it was possible that he would share thoughts similar to Katya’s. “Will you help?” she asked him.

  He hesitated, but only long enough for the barest glimmer of worry to streak across her eyes before the woman behind them got to him. Gods in her head or no, he would stay with her, and there was no question in his mind that he would do whatever was necessary to stop this evil from spreading. “Of course.”

  A relieved smile spread over her face, “Good. We’d better get started.”

  *

  Jezebel and Devon had been holed up in a half-decent inn while she regained her strength. After blasting a hole in their prison wall, she had been forced to use more magic to transport them far enough away from the palace so that the rather large force which had immediately been deployed against them wouldn’t be able to find them, and it had nearly depleted her.

  Luck had been with them, however, and the area she had jumped them to had been populated enough that no one noticed two extra strangers and the accommodations were relatively acceptable. Certainly better than being locked away in a dungeon! She had been rather proud of herself that after only one experience of someone else performing the jump for her - when the King transported her and Devon to Treymayne - that she had been able to pick up on the process to do it herself, and on the very same day as regaining her powers.

  Though she had been spending much of her time sleeping, those hours that she was awake had been spent planning. When her power had come rushing back into her - she felt a rush of giddiness just thinking about it - her memory had also been simultaneously repaired in its entirety. Consequently, she was appalled that she had been forced into such close contact with Gryffon and - that girl - and worse still, that she had been duped into working for the bastard King once more. She was not a little put out by Devon’s keeping that particular secret from her.

  He claimed that he had been told by the King that mentioning it while she was in her healing state could send her over the edge, but this excuse only revealed to her that he had also been in contact with the King. And what the two of them had discussed while she was unaware made Jezebel both curious and angry. Granted Devon had not been there the night that - that the unspeakable had happened - but he still should have been aware of what her feelings would be about returning to duties under that usurpers control.

  She had barred Devon from her bed since regaining her powers. She told herself that it was because it was no longer necessary as she had already healed completely and no longer wanted such a needless distraction. Deep down, though she would never admit it even to herself, she was warring with emotions of hurt and betrayal as well as the unexplained feeling she got every time she talked to him…like she missed him, even when he was right there in front of her. Right within reach…Jezebel slammed the letter opener she’d been holding into the desk, stabbing a large hole in the parchment there.

  She let out a sharp breath and pried it out, picking up the letter and rereading it for the umpteenth time. It was from her father, written before his death and intercepted from being delivered to her at the palace in Endlyfta by one of Devon’s new contacts. Its contents were mystifying.

  Jezebel,

  I realize that we haven’t always seen eye to eye on matters, and lately more than ever. But you must understand that there is more going on than you have imagined. I am part of a secret society called the Order which has been shaping mankind’s history for generations.

  There are books out there whose pages contain unimaginable power. Some of these books are held by members of the Order, their secrets guarded with our lives, but others have yet to be discovered, especially those thought to be in Treymayne. These books also speak of a Bloodstone, through which the power of the gods is obtainable. But I have learned that it is tr
uly the source of the Bloodstone’s strength that holds the real power, and if you find where this secret place is, you would be unstoppable.

  I have had many unfortunate occurrences lately, one of which I believe may spell my doom. As my fortune teller likes to say ‘I cannot escape my fate’. But you, however, may live to carry on our family’s legacy. Find the Bloodstone’s source, find these hidden books and use the knowledge within them. The name Alamanni will not be forgotten.

  Take this emblem. It holds the key to finding all that has been lost. I have researched it for years, but to no avail. I am sure that you will unlock its mysteries and succeed where I have failed.

  Good luck.

  Best,

  Karl

  Jezebel picked up the circular emblem and held it in her palm. It wasn’t much to look at, but it must have been very important for her father to have sent someone across two countries to get it to her. It was just like him to keep something this big from her while he was alive and then give her only the tiniest of hints about it when he knew he would soon be dead and could no longer give her any more information. The fact that he knew he was going to be killed surprised her, along with the revelation that he had also been in the Order - though it was some consolation that by his wording he must not have realized that she was too. She wondered if the Order had been involved in his death. It hardly mattered now, the emblem was much more interesting. She drew her index finger along the outline of her lips and pondered its meaning.

  It was a round, two-sided disk of metal with a dragon imprinted on one side curled around a symbol of some sort and the other side was a tangled mess of lines etched upon the metal at various depths. Devon had suggested that it was perhaps a key. But to what? Her father’s note indicated, though with a frustratingly scant amount of real information, that this could help her locate more tomes of ancient information. She had gotten a taste of the power they held from just the copied portion she had gotten her hands on, and could only imagine what the other books contained. She was itching to find out. The note had also given her some sliver of a clue as to what the bastard King had been up to. This Bloodstone that her father mentioned that could give you godlike powers could be the source of the King’s sudden rise in status. She didn’t believe for a second that he was actually the Sleeping God as he was spreading around, her lips curled in disgust, he probably couldn’t even use the stone correctly with his common blood. Regardless, if he did already have control of the stone, the source of its power that her father mentioned would be essential for her to find to use against him.

  So far, the symbol on the front had given them no clues, other than the obvious reference to the gods, and neither Devon’s limited information network he had been gathering here, nor Jezebel’s frequent visits to the Hall of Histories had been able to produce any leads. It was almost as if something was missing. Several of the scholars had almost looked as though they recognized it at first glance, but upon further inspection each had told her that it was like nothing they had ever seen. It almost seemed familiar to Jezebel as well, as though it were something in the book that Lord Farthen had given her.

  She clenched her fist around the disk at the thought. While she had been incapacitated, someone had stolen her precious copy of the document and had apparently cleared out the country manor of her hounds as well. She shuddered. Not that she had been overly excited to see them again. The memory of them attacking her was something she would not have been unhappy to have never recovered. She quickly shoved the fear aside, however, and replaced it with more anger. Those ungrateful mangy beasts, after all I did for them. I wish they WERE still there so I could teach them a lesson! The metal of the disk bit into her hand sharply as she tightened her grip on it and she cried out, flinging it out of her hand roughly. It rolled across the stone floor, balancing precariously on its edge.

  Its roll turned and arced gracefully towards the fireplace, bouncing upwards as it hit the lip, and it headed directly into the flames.

  “Bloody-“ Jezebel started to curse as the disk hit the fire, but abruptly stopped, stunned into silence. Then she started to giggle hysterically, and soon it became full-blown laughter. Of course! Now she had everything she needed to get back at the two miscreants who had dared cross her, and she would have the power to put that blasted man pretending to be a god in his place. Yes, now she had everything she needed…

  *

  Katya trailed behind Gryffon and Layna. For all Gryffon’s talk about wanting to be more than friends with the girl, he certainly had started giving her the cold shoulder. Though Katya could hardly blame him with the news that she had brought. She was beginning to regret her own involvement with her.

  Both their stories seemed to concur that the King was involved in treacherous dealings and blood-magic, and Katya was sickened at the thought that she had helped to free such a man. Deep down, she knew she wouldn’t have been able to do it any differently, however, and this knowledge frightened her. She was not in control of her emotions. Even so, she felt the pressing need to right this wrong. Though she had been averse to engage in the happenings of the world, seeing as how she had already inadvertently gotten caught up in helping someone whose own intervention was having a negative impact, she felt ever more increasingly strong urges to remedy the situation. Not to mention it could be her only means to find out about her past…

  With Layna now awake, Katya could finally ask her if she had any clues as to Katya’s heritage. When the girl had not recognized her right away, however, it had given her a glimmer of doubt and she held back. Combined with the words of the Oracle, which had implied that she wouldn’t get her answer until she saved the world and in the meantime would cause the suffering of any who happened to get close to her…

  At Layna’s words that the Three were really simply beings that were far more powerful than humans and not really gods at all - which Katya didn’t have that hard of a time grasping as she was never one for religion - she had immediately begun to wonder if the Oracle’s words held any meaning at all. She had the fleeting hope that her prediction had been nothing more than the musings of a woman sitting by the water. But Layna’s answer to her unspoken question dashed those hopes. She really did need to follow this through to completion before she could find out who she was.

  Great, I just have to save the world. At least she was caught up with people who seemed hell-bent on doing so and appeared to believe there was a real need. It could be worse…She refrained from thinking about the second part of the Oracle’s prediction.

  She still carried the box from Layna’s father with her, despite Gryffon’s urgings that she give it and her news to the girl. She hadn’t been quite ready to have her fears confirmed that Layna would know nothing more about her, but she couldn’t keep procrastinating forever.

  She sighed and caught up with the other two.

  *

  “Cliodhna says that in order to unlock the secrets of the sword, we need to find out who made it. I get the feeling that there’s something they’re not telling me about it, and that they are uncomfortable because they feel they should know how it works and don’t. Like there’s someone or something else here that’s also interfering. It’s hard to tell what they really don’t know and what they’re just not telling us because of their ‘no interference’ policy.” Layna picked a burr out of the mane of the horse that she was riding. They had been traveling for some time by foot and had jumped at the chance to buy horses as soon as they had passed through a town that had them.

  “Great, just what we need,” Katya said.

  “But at least this one is interfering to get rid of the Bloodstone,” Gryffon put in.

  “Or at least stop other people from using it.” Layna pointed out. “But who knows what would happen if they got their hands on it…” Layna couldn’t quite tell what the emotions were of the Three in her head. It sounded as though they wanted to find this unknown entity for help, but were also wary of it. After a moment of contemplation, she as
ked Gryffon, “Is there somewhere that you keep all your information about history, like in Gelendan where we have the historians’ archives just outside of Naoham?” She moved Leoht into a more comfortable position on her thigh. They had decided that since the Three had given it to her and she would have to be the one to eventually use it, that she was the most qualified to wear it.

  Except that she knew she was really the least qualified. She had seen Gryffon practicing his swordsmanship and even if he hadn’t normally worn a sword around, she had seen them strapped on during ceremonial purposes and he looked very comfortable with it. And Katya…she wasn’t sure why she got the feeling, but Layna was sure that this woman was no wallflower lady. The way she moved was very deliberate, each move calculated and planned like she was ready for anything. The fluid motion reminded Layna very much of a snake.

  -You may not have experience, but you have the talent and the will to use it,- Kai’s deep rumbling baritone sounded in her head. -Do you remember the little girl whittling sticks into swords and practicing in the fields when she was supposed to be darning socks?-