Kellanved's Reach

Tayschrenn threw a hand down and their surroundings shifted once again.

It was night still, but the sky was clear, the air much colder. Dancer and Tayschrenn stood upon a familiar hillside, a valley before them. Dancer motioned ahead. ‘This way.’

It did not take long to find the witch. She was pacing about, picking up objects and letting them fall, brushing her hands together, speaking to someone as yet unseen. Closer, Dancer spotted Kellanved on the ground, still wrapped in tendrils of Rashan.

The witch nodded to Dancer as he approached. ‘You are persistent.’ She tilted her head, examining him. ‘You possess no talent, yet you have strong instincts. Are you the one who slew Chulalorn?’

Dancer saw no reason to dissemble, and he nodded.

The witch snorted again, and turned to Kellanved. ‘I warned him! He, too, over-reached. And look how he ended up.’ She opened her arms to encompass their surroundings. ‘Behold the Graveyard of Bone – so called. I, too, pursued this mystery for a while.’ She peered round, as if in remembrance. ‘But that was a long time ago. This puzzle has consumed entire lifetimes of study. Driven mages insane.’

She prodded Kellanved with a toe. ‘Like your Meanas. A cute trick, mastering it. But not enough.’

Tayschrenn came up to stand next to Dancer, and for the first time the mage appeared worried.

‘Yet they all point …’ Kellanved objected.

Jadeen nodded impatiently. ‘Yes, yes. They point. But where, yes?’

The little mage attempted to shrug within his bonds. ‘Well, here.’

The witch was shaking her head and grinning anew, obviously enjoying toying with him. ‘No. It is here, but not here. The Army of Bone was of the Imass, yes? You knew this?’

Kellanved nodded. ‘I have read such research.’

‘And,’ continued Jadeen, ‘they were an Elder people. They possessed their own source of power – what we call Warrens, but they named Holds. Yes?’

Kellanved was nodding eagerly. ‘Yes!’

‘Theirs was named Tellann.’

Kellanved’s face fell, his shoulders slumped. ‘And it is closed to us.’

Jadeen nodded, and stooped to pick up a small arrowhead that she then flicked away. ‘Yes. Tellann is inaccessible to us. No human can reach it.’

‘Yet these items – their Tellann-infused tools and weapons – can,’ Kellanved mused.

Jadeen shrugged. ‘What of it? That is no help to me or you.’

‘I was just thinking,’ Kellanved said, letting his head fall back as if he were studying the night sky, ‘that they touch Tellann at all times, anywhere. So why …’

Dancer was startled by Tayschrenn’s hand now suddenly gripping his arm.

Jadeen turned upon the little mage, her eyes widening. ‘A physical access point! Here!’

Kellanved nodded. ‘Also known as a gate.’

She paced, muttering to herself. She stooped again to snatch up a flint tool and tapped it with her nails. ‘But gone now, over the aeons,’ she murmured. ‘Somehow.’

‘Destroyed,’ Kellanved affirmed. ‘However—’ He clamped his mouth shut.

Jadeen marched to him and set a foot upon his neck. ‘What? However what? Speak, damn you! Or I shall flay you alive!’

Dancer reached behind his back once more, but Tayschrenn squeezed anew and Dancer sent him a glare. The mage edged his head in a negative. Dancer gritted his teeth, seething.

‘Well,’ Kellanved gasped. ‘It just occurs to me that where there was one gate …’

Jadeen lifted her foot, letting go a hissed breath. ‘Yes … there may be another. Somewhere. One just need find it …’ Then she froze, as if struck by a stunning thought, and turned a gaze full of wonder upon Kellanved, whose own mouth opened in understanding.

‘No!’ he breathed. ‘Damn you.’

The witch threw back her head and laughed anew. She squeezed the flint tool in her hand and saluted Kellanved. ‘You have bought your life, little man. My thanks. Live and howl to see me command the Army of Bone!’ She waved a hand and darkest night took her.

The moment after the witch disappeared Kellanved leapt from the ground, his walking stick already in hand. ‘We must hurry,’ he told Dancer, who stared, stunned.

‘But you were …’

‘I replaced her bonds with mine some time ago. I had reached a dead end here. I hoped she possessed pieces I needed.’

‘But you gave her all she needed!’ Tayschrenn accused him. He pointed to where she had disappeared. ‘That witch must not succeed. No one should succeed in this!’

‘Then why did you stop me?’ Dancer demanded.

Tayschrenn waved a hand in dismissal. ‘Your blades would not have struck home and we’d all be dead now.’

Kellanved nodded his agreement. ‘Yes. She is far too experienced and wary, that one. We are lucky to be alive, frankly. I had to give her more than I wished – but it couldn’t be helped.’ He tapped his fingertips together. ‘Now, if you don’t mind, we really must be going.’

‘But Surly!’ Tayschrenn objected. ‘What of the Napans? We must return at once.’

Kellanved waved Tayschrenn off. ‘Go ahead. See to it.’

‘They could all be facing execution at this moment.’