As we returned to the table, the servers were carrying away our plates, and Keth had also returned. He had brought with him a bottle of what looked like brandy, and was pouring cordial glasses for us.
“Dwarven brandy, straight from the Nebulveori Mountains.” He handed me a glass.
The scent was almost intoxicating, and I felt grounded enough to take a sip. It was like grape honey on the tongue, rich and full-bodied. As I murmured “Thank you,” he offered the others their glasses.
“Now, then, while the food sets, tell me why you have come to visit our temple.” He spoke in English this time.
Chase cleared his throat. “May I ask a question—without meaning to be rude?”
“Ask. You cannot find answers if you do not seek them out.” Keth seemed in a generous mood, or perhaps he was always this good-natured.
“You call this a temple, but also a monastery. Which is it?”
“A sanctuary can be one and still be the other. This is our monastery and it is also our temple. Either word works.” Keth leaned forward, his elbows on the table. “Remember, constraints provide only limitations. Expand the definition, and you expand the potential.”
Chase grinned at him. “I see what you mean. Thank you.”
“Then, let us proceed. Lady Camille, I feel you are the one to answer my question. Tell me, why are you here?” The monk turned back to me.
I swallowed my nerves. This was it. How they reacted would be the difference between whether we had to find a way to sneak around behind their backs—quite possibly causing a political schism that could mar future relations between the Order of the Crystal Dagger and just about every city or group I belonged to—or whether we’d have them as allies.
“I am Camille Sepharial te Maria, High Priestess of the Moon Mother and soon to take the throne of Dusk and Twilight. I’ve come for the Keraastar Diamond, to gather and lead the Keraastar Knights into the coming battle against Shadow Wing, who rails against the portals and seeks to break through and devastate both Earthside and Y’Eírialiastar. It was Shadow Wing who drove the armies of Telazhar against Elqaneve.”
Keth didn’t jump, or start, or show any of the reactions I had expected him to. Instead, he merely leaned back in his chair and folded his hands across his stomach.
“You don’t seem surprised.”
“Surprise? We’re taught to anticipate but never expect. We’re taught that surprise is our enemy. It leads to being caught off guard. I have long learned to moderate my reactions, Priestess. Your news is not something we expected, but neither am I surprised. We knew that Shadow Wing was behind Telazhar—the Order doesn’t merely sit up here on the mountain and hide out from the rest of the world. But we have little to do with the goings-on. All things pass in time. So, you come for the Keraastar Diamond? Why do you think we have it?”
“I don’t think you have it here in the temple, but the Maharata-Vashi led me here and points to the gem being on your land.” I withdrew the scroll and spread it out to show him the legend. “Can you read ancient Melosealfôr? I can only read a few words.”
He leaned across the table, gazing into my eyes. “Do you trust me to read it correctly, that should be your question?”
I held his gaze, peering into the deep brown pools that seemed to go on forever. After a moment, I realized that yes, I did trust him. His energy was clear. He wasn’t on our side, but he wasn’t against us, either. He was playing Switzerland in a world of opposites.
“Yes, I think I do. I also need the incantation on the Maharata-Verdi translated.”
“That, I can also do.” He studied the map. “First, the map. It reads thusly: The Keraastar Diamond is found in the Cavernica Redal. There’s a cave system that begins on our land. The Cavernica Redal isn’t far—a day’s journey up the mountain side behind the monastery, but a dangerous trek, and whatever guards the Keraastar Diamond, you will have to vanquish.”
“How long has the diamond been here?” Venus asked.
Keth shook his head. “The cavern has remained untouched since long before my time—it goes back generations of monks, and guarding it has only been one of our duties, but one we have taken seriously. But there are servants along the way who will challenge you. We can give you no help. You must face and defeat them, or you will die on the crag.”
I didn’t like the sound of that. Dying was not part of the plan, and given the elevation, chances were that trolls or ogres wandered the mountains around here. Possibly giants as well. Even if they were half-giants, they’d still be trouble.
“We’ll leave as soon as possible. I have no choice. We’ll have to face whatever is waiting for us.”
He took out a piece of parchment. “Then I will translate the incantation for you now. I’ll write it in modern Melosealfôr, as well as write a pronunciation guide to say the words in the ancient form. You may need to do that instead.”
I turned to the others. “Chase, I hate the idea of taking you up there with me, but every instinct I have is screaming that you must be a part of this. Venus, you have to go, too.”
Chase set his lips in a thin line, but nodded.
I was beginning to sense something unfolding that I really didn’t want to think about, because it would shift so much in our private world, but the feeling wouldn’t leave me. Chase had to be there. Chase was part elf. And Chase had drunk the Nectar of Life. I wasn’t clear on what was going on, but whatever it was, it was going to be yet another wide bend in the journey.
Delilah seemed to sense the same thing too, because she placed her hand on Chase’s arm. “We’ll be there to help. Whatever this is.”
Venus shrugged. “You are going to be my queen, Camille. I will do anything I can to help you. But what are we going to do about Rozurial and Trillian? We left them back at the edge of the foothills.”
“That’s over a week’s journey on foot. They have to know we aren’t coming right back. I guess…we have to trust that they’ll be all right until we find the diamond. There’s no way we can go back for them now, unless we’re willing to leave the horses to fate. They’re not used to running free.”
Bran shook his head. “No, without someone to watch over them, they’d be lunch for some monster within days. Predators abound in the Deep, and in the foothills. Although I suppose you could give them to one of the families that live along the river, but even that much travel would put us a day behind.”
“And we don’t know that they’d be well treated. Though frankly, I don’t think the dwarves are all that concerned about their well-being either. No, we climb the mountain without them. I wish our cell phones worked over here.” Whispering Mirrors were all well and good, but they weren’t portable and they didn’t make up for the lack of a good communications system.
“If you like, when you return, one of the dragons can fly two of my monks down to where your friends and horses are waiting. We will take care of the animals and bring them up the mountains to our monastery, while the rest of you fly down to Svartalfheim, the closest city from here.” Keth shrugged. “Otherwise, it will take you over a week to make your way out of the mountains if you go on foot. And if you’re to take the throne at midsummer, you can’t afford that much time.”
I nodded. “He’s right. All right, we go to the cavern, find the diamond, and then Smoky, you can fly two of the monks down to the horses, then bring back Roz, Trillian, and our gear. Then we fly to Svartalfheim, and go through a portal to the Wayfarer.”
Keth glanced over to the wall. There was a clock of sorts, though it ran on Otherworld time, which was very much like Earthside time but counted in longer increments than minutes.
“During the night, the dangers on the mountain increase. Be prepared. The ghosts come out at night. The Cavernica Redal is a day’s climb up the mountain. If I were you, I’d start out at sunrise. Your dragon wings will not take you there. The peak has been off limits to dragons for many many years, through a treaty, and that treaty is magi
cally reinforced. A dragon who flies too close to the mountain top will fall out of the sky. You’re lucky you didn’t attempt it on coming in.”
Smoky looked at me. “It’s up to you. Now, or sunrise? This is your journey, Camille. We’re just here to back you up.”
I didn’t want to face monsters. I didn’t want to travel in the dark. But an urgency inside pushed me to make haste, to hurry up and get on that mountainside before dusk fell. Whether it was my own insecurity or a premonition, I didn’t know. But I did know that the more I followed my gut, the better off my life went, even if it wasn’t the easiest choice.
“We go now.” I stood. “We head out now, and climb as far as we can, as fast as we can. I can’t give you a reason other than my intuition tells me that the sooner we get there, the better. I’ve had this feeling that we’ve been watched all along, and I still have it. I don’t want to wait and give whoever might be out there a chance to catch up and perhaps wait to ambush us.”
“Then we go now. Can you give us any guidance as to where we’ll find the cave?” Delilah asked.
Keth smiled—faintly, but it was a genuine smile. “I can do that. It’s going to be hard for you to miss, actually, but without our permission, you’d never make it there. Anyone who attempts to scale the mountain from here on up either has our permission or they never return.” He held out armbands—silver strips of material with a blue tip.
“You each will wear this. That signifies you’ve been given our blessing. Many have attempted to forge the material, but we make this weave ourselves and it possesses an auric energy that reads true only to itself. We can tell a forgery a mile off, and that is one factor intruders don’t count on. We read energy from a distance. So keep these tied to your right arms at all times. It won’t give you a free pass with the guardians of the mountain, but it will prevent any of our monks you might meet along the way from destroying you.”
I cringed, waiting for Smoky or Shade to say something all blustery, but neither said a word, simply accepted the bands without comment. We tied them around each other’s arms, making certain they were firmly bound.
“What happens if somebody tries to cut this off of us?” I asked, fingering the material, which seemed deceptively fragile.
“Try. You, Delilah, try cutting the band off her arm.” Keth pointed to Delilah’s dagger.
Delilah frowned, but obliged, sliding her blade beneath the material and attempting to cut through it. But nothing happened. The material resisted the blade, even though I knew she kept it honed to a fine edge.
“Why won’t it cut?”
“We charm the bands. No blade may cut them save for our own crystal daggers. So go and be safe. Return if you can. And when you find the diamond, remember—you may take it, and only it. Anything else in the mountains belongs to our order.” With that, Keth motioned for us to follow him, leading us out of the other door that exited the room. “We never allow true guests to exit by the front door. Only those who are cast out leave that way. You come in the front door, and exit through the back. That means you’ve been accepted by the Order and may return in the future.”
Their customs didn’t seem very different than those of a number of cultures in Otherworld. In fact, the monks didn’t seem nearly as fearsome as I had originally expected them to. But as we left through the back door, we entered a yard where several of the monks were training.
As we watched, they circled one another, feinting and throwing in turn as though they were tossing a ball back and forth. When they hit the ground, their bodies left imprints in the hardened soil—the force they were using was so great. Yet they each stood, never diverting their focus, never crying uncle or even showing a flicker of pain on their faces, although I saw enough blood and bruises to convince me that broken bones had to be involved.
Keth led us beyond the training, to the end of the enclosure that circled the monastery. He opened the gate and pointed to a dirt track cut into the mountain that began a long, lazy spiral up toward the peak. It was steep and narrow, and there were no guard rails or handholds. The track made me dizzy just looking at it, so I turned away, trying to keep my balance.
“It’s a long way up. You’ll climb the mountain through the night till morning. By the first crack of dawn, you should be near the Cavernica Redal if you encounter no dangers and take only moderate breaks. Whatever you do, take nothing other than the diamond, and dragons—do not shift into your natural forms. I have had sandwiches prepared for you, and I wish you well.”
I hoisted my staff. It was time to put it to use. Shade took the bag of food and draped the strap over his shoulder. We accepted fresh canteens from Keth, and then, he stood back.
“May the gods see you safely up and back. There’s nothing more my Order can do for you—not until you return. Your armbands will keep you safe from any of the monks on the mountain.” And with that, he turned and walked away, not looking back.
I sucked in a deep breath. “Smoky, will you go first?”
He nodded. “If you are sure?”
“I’m sure. Let’s climb.”
And so, we did.
Chapter 15
SMOKY LED THE way, and behind him came Venus next, then me, then Bran, Chase, Delilah, and Shade brought up the rear. I was immediately grateful for my staff. The path was a scant two feet wide, the winding trail cut right into the mountain. It was compacted dirt—the rains up here would not come for another few months—but there were enough stones and loose rocks to litter the way and make it hazardous. And while the mountain did slope, the dropoff was steep. It would be all too easy to go tripping over the side. One misstep, one slip, and it would be a long step down.
The vegetation was scarce—a few scrub bushes, most looking prickly and full of thorns, and scant grasses that were parallel to the ground given the perpetual wind. Mountain goats could exist up here, and rodents and a few predators, but anything else that lived on the mountain had to be creatures we really didn’t want to meet.
The sun was slowly lowering itself to the west, but from here, we’d see the last rays unless the clouds rolled in. Thinking about climbing the mountain at night started me second-guessing my choice. Had I made the right decision? Keth said that the mountain’s ghosts came out to play and I wasn’t sure if he was being poetic or if he really meant actual spirits on the mountainside. And what if we couldn’t see the path? We had flashlights, but still…
I tapped Smoky on the arm. “Do you think I made the right choice to start at night?”
He glanced back at me. “I think you made the choice your instincts told you to make. We’ll be all right. We’re strong together. We have two dragons, an Elemental Lord, a shaman, a Death Maiden and…a Faerie Queen witch. Just keep alert, watch your step, and don’t drift off.”
We made good time for the first hour—as good as we could headed up a steep winding grade. But by the time the sun began to set, the temperatures were beginning to drop and I realized it was going to be a chilly night for everybody. At least the hike would serve to keep us warm. I wanted to chat, to break the silence, but then thought that might not be a good idea. If there were ghosts or monsters on the mountain, then our voices would only alert them. Better to walk in silence and keep as low-key as possible.
Another hour and Chase softly asked for a break. There wasn’t a good place to spread out, so we did our best to rest on the path, cautiously leaning back against the slope behind us. Smoky and Shade stayed standing, facing front and back respectively, to watch for anything that might be creeping up on us.
Delilah passed out sandwiches that the monks had given us—it was nearing dinnertime and my stomach was rumbling. The bread had a tender crumb, and the meat was succulent and moist. We left enough for breakfast, because a day’s climb up the mountain meant a day’s climb down. When we finished eating, we took off again, winding our way around the peak. My guess was that the cave was only a few miles from the monastery, but the grade of the peak and
the narrowness of the path would be what slowed us down.
As we climbed, the waning crescent of the moon rose into the sky, and her pull on me echoed through my body. The magic of the mountain was beginning to thicken, too, like a mist creeping around us that we could feel but not see. It was ancient, as old as Otherworld when it first divided off from Earthside. At times I wondered what those days had been like. The disasters that the Great Divide had caused had rocked both worlds. Earthquakes, volcanoes, floods—the land had screamed in protest as the Great Fae Lords drove the parting of the worlds. Like some juggernaut, a behemoth monster, the Great Divide tore land from land, parting the world into three realms. How many millennia had passed since then, nobody knew, but it had been tens upon tens of thousands of years. The thought of what might happen if the portals ripped apart and the three worlds slammed back into one another was a terrifying possibility. And that was exactly what Shadow Wing was trying to bring about.
I gazed up at the mountain beside me. The Keraastar Diamond would help me prevent that from happening. The weight of three worlds pressing down on my shoulders, I suddenly felt very small and vulnerable, and terrified that I wasn’t the right choice for the job. If I screwed up…
I caught my breath, my head reeling with the thought of what could happen if I fucked up.
“Are you all right?” Bran asked, reaching forward to steady me. For once, he didn’t sound sarcastic.
Smoky turned. “Pause,” he said, holding up his hand so everyone would stop. “What’s wrong?”
I shook my head. “I just fell into a spiral of thoughts. I’m all right. I’m sorry.” I didn’t want to tell them what I’d been thinking. For one thing, I wasn’t looking for their reassurances. This was more of a fight with myself, a battle with my own confidence, and I was smart enough to recognize that I was the only one who could shake off the doubt.
“Be cautious. We’re nearing some rock fall up ahead and while it might be a good place to stop for a moment, there could be creatures hiding up there as well.” Smoky turned back to the path and motioned for us to start again.