Page 89

I nodded. “He is terrifying. Looks like the Aspis.”

Brekt tensed, I’d forgot to mention that part earlier. I knew he would ask me about it later, since, apparently, he would not speak at all while he was here.

“We discovered that for the Ikhor to return the magic, all gods need to be there. We need help,” Maev said.

“You’ve been on quite the adventure.” Cal grabbed a hold of his desk, leaning back and grinning at her. It was cute. Sweet.

“I have been.” Maev’s face fell. “And … Ollo was with me.”

“Something happened.” Cal sat straight. “Is he okay?”

Maev shook her head, swallowing. “He was taken by the members of the Guardian Council. But I’ve been told the Guards saw him, and they are going to help me find him.”

“You think he is still …” Cal looked from me to Maev.

“Maev knows he’s alive,” I said for her. “She can feel it.”

“Maev is too smart to give into forced sentimentalities. If she says so, then he’s alive.” Cal leaned an elbow on the desk, turning to Maev. “So you met the Guards?”

I was thankful Cal changed the subject. I think he saw how it was bothering her.

“Liv travelled with them for a while.” She gave a dismissive wave of her hand, pretending it was nothing.

Cal’s attention shot to me. “You mentioned a Sea-leg,” he said excitedly, flipping a page in his book. His mess of hair fell in front of his face.

Was he talking to me? “Yes?”

“You travelled with the Guards. You knew them.”

“Yes.”

He lifted his head from his desk. “Was the Sea-leg the Guard Nuo? The Interrogator?”

I braced myself, ready to hear how awful it must have been for me to travel with such a horrible man.

Brekt dropped his hands and stood away from the wall as I nodded to Cal.

“Is it true he fights with two short swords and seven deadly sharp knives? And that he is the mapper of the four?” Cal grabbed a notebook in the middle of a pile of books. Others crashed to the ground as he pulled the leather-bound book from the stack.

“What?” I asked.

Brekt rubbed at his temples, losing his patience.

Cal flipped a few pages and stopped. “Two short swords for close combat, seven knives for range. Nuo is not as fast as Kazhi or as fluid as Bastane but is the cleverest fighter in the Guards. Raised in the harsh climate of the North camp, he is argued to be the cruellest to the Southlanders, second to the Shadow Guard, Erebrekt, who fights with brute force.”

The Shadow Guard glared at Cal with an unusual expression, and I put a hand over my mouth as Brekt’s boredom washed away, replaced with that dumbfounded look. I bet he never expected admirers of the Guards across the border.

Cal kept reading. “Nuo has long lines of script tattoos down his entire back, which is an ancient Sea-leg poem of two soul-bonded lovers who spent a lifetime apart, fighting for the freedom of being together. He also has a full leg tattoo on the right, dedicated to the Aspis with smoke and scales.” Cal lifted curious eyes to mine. “Are my notes correct?”

“A poem?” Maev asked, surprised.

That’s what was on his back? “What are your notes for?” I asked.

Cal left his notebook open and pushed his hair back from his face, only for it to fall again. “I’ve been fascinated by the history of the Guards since I was a kid.” He wiggled his book in the air. “These are my notes from the information I’ve gathered about them, along with previous generations.”

“Why? They are your enemy.”

“For fun.” He shrugged.

“For fun? How is that fun?”

Cal leaned back in his chair, somehow still hunched over. “Knowing stuff is fun. Every little boy likes stories of warriors.”

“It doesn’t sound like you hate them.”

Brekt was sizing up Cal curiously. I could see that, already, he was deciding his teachings about the Aethar were wrong. Brekt was mad that he’d been lied to about the city. What would he make of Cal, who knew so much about his people and didn’t hate them?

Cal waved a hand. “I don’t get caught up in who hates who and who attacks who. Everyone is to blame in war. We have just as many idiots here who want titles and accolades. I am not a fan of fighting or politics, and I certainly don’t believe in borders or being a slave to your country.”

Was he talking of Ollo?

“You don’t support Rydavas?” I asked.

“I support no one, really. I don’t wish ill on any innocent people, but I’m not about to bother others because I don’t like their way of life. The Guards believe they’re protecting their people, just as much as our aerial and ground units believe the same.”

Brekt listened while Cal talked about war and politics, and though Brekt was a fighter, I believed that deep down he didn’t like it either.

Cal reminded me of the rebellion Kazhi had spoken of, that fights for all people. The rebellion I wanted to help—because I believed the same.

“And what do you think of the Council, ordering the Guards? You think they’re just doing their duty to the people?” I asked Cal.

“No. It is usually those in power that fight for more power. Believe me, if you meet our Elders, which I’m guessing by the look on your face you have, you will see striking similarities.”

“I had the impression the Elders here care for the people.”

Cal was surprisingly open with his opinions. Had I said anything negative about the Keepers back home, I would have disappeared instantly. Was it possible that if others heard his opinions, he would be taken away?

Cal scratched his chin. “They do things that end up being good for the people, but they hold positions of power and make decisions for lives that are not their own. Some don’t agree with those decisions.

I’m not a fan. I don’t follow anyone. I do things my way.

” Cal returned his attention to his desk, grabbed a different book, and wrote in it.

Perhaps Avenmae was a place where you could state openly your dislike for those in power.

“Where are you from?” he asked abruptly.

“The Lost Lands.” I waited for him to scoff at me.

“You’re going to drop that on me and not explain further?”

I turned to find him sitting straight, brows raised, and I smiled. Something was charming about Cal.

“I was brought here by the magic of the Ikhor. Somehow.”

“That would mean it has sentience. It was able to take you from your lands to here.”

“How would that work?” I asked. “I haven’t seen any magic that can transport people.”

Cal bit his lip—a small, sharp tooth stuck out as he thought.

“It’s the god’s magic. The gods have powers no legacy has ever possessed.

I have it on record that Rem can travel great distances with a thought, though I have not spoken directly to eyewitnesses.

Perhaps the magic has part of his essence and an understanding the Ikhor needed to be on these lands and not the lost ones. ”

Rem? I had already considered once that it was him who brought me here, when I saw him in the Guardian City.

“It’s all too much for me,” I said. “I guess I don’t fully understand the magic I carry.”

“Tell me about the Lost Lands.”

“What do you know of them?”

Cal pulled another notebook from the pile. “From what I’ve read and heard on my travels, the Lost Lands are a myth. The tales are that it is the place of our creation. And?—”

“What? What do you mean, creation?” My heart sped at the new information.

Cal held up a hand. “Theories, remember. Some think that before the legacies existed, we came from the Lost Lands. Our people arrived on the continents of Veydes and Rydavas, where they first came in contact with the gods. Only after that were the first children born. But originally, our ancestors came from the Lost Lands.”

That was too romantic of a story for my homeland. “I doubt that’s the case. The Lost Lands are behind the advancements of Veydes.”

“And Veydes behind Rydavas,” he argued. “Which I don’t believe was always the case. It may be true, as I see you don’t carry any legacy yourself.”

“How do you know I’m not of weak blood?”

Cal shrugged. “I don’t know. Guessed.”

“So, do you know how to get to the Lost Lands? Not that I want to return.”

“I don’t.”

I continued to look through his shelves, disappointed for some reason.

“But I could guess where they are.”

I whipped back around. “How?”

Cal lit up, enjoying my reaction. Not because he wanted to show off—that wasn’t what it seemed like, anyway.

I think he enjoyed my curiosity. “I have taken an interest now and then. I studied maps and flying routes the aerial division has used for training purposes in the past. Then I acquired similar maps of the routes the Guardians use.”

“And you saw someone had flown there?”

“No, the opposite. There is an area, far north, where no one flies.”

“I don’t get it.” Though he was right, I knew the Lost Lands were north.

“I believe there’s a reason no one has visited your home. I believe the location is where no one can fly.”

I waited, still not understanding.

“It’s hidden by magic.”

Magic? It made perfect sense, even without knowing why. Hidden by who?

“Why, though? Why was my home hidden?”

Cal shrugged. “There could be something there that is meant to be hidden.”

Everything in me went still. “Could it be a missing god?”

His smile brightened. “I like your thinking. I never considered it. I wonder …”

I was nearly bouncing with excitement. “Maev said you could help me find answers. She said if anyone could, it would be you.”

“I will look again for books referencing the Lost Lands and see what comes up. Why are you interested in missing gods? You mentioned something earlier.”

I tucked my hair behind my ear, nervous. “I want to return the magic. I’ve been told I need all of them to accept the magic back.”

“Oh, right. I’d forgotten why you’d come here.” Cal rested his elbows on his desk. “I don’t envy you that job.”

“I feel worse for Maev, who has offered to help me do it.” Maev pursed her lips at the comment. “She’s smart enough. She’d be the best help.”

“Even though she’s not a fighter?” Cal asked. “I would have thought the Guards would have been a better help. And you mentioned they were your friends. I’ve heard the Interrogator is intelligent. Is he more so than Maev? Wait, let me get my book.”

“Nuo is a fighter. And when he’s not being a jerk, he’s very clever and funny.”

Brekt’s face fell, and when he shifted uncomfortably, I could tell he wanted to say something.

Cal paused his writing. “He’s your friend.”

“Was.”

“Why?”

“We had a falling out.”

“Were you lovers?”

My jaw dropped, my face turning red.

“Sorry,” he blurted. “None of my business. I won’t write that down.”

“They were not lovers,” Brekt growled, glaring at Cal, making the poor man flinch.

“Oh.” Cal scribbled some more in his book, avoiding the hostility coming from Brekt. “So the Shadow Guard—” He looked over his glasses at me.

“Is the host of the Aspis.” Brekt stepped away from the wall, dropping his hood and coming to stand at my side. “And he’s curious why you need to know so much about the Guards.”

Cal’s eyes grew wide. “Tall, powerfully built, with tattoos of the Aspis past his temples across his skull. The Shadow Guard is the deadliest of them all. Having the abilities blessed by Erabas, he can disappear from sight. You won’t see your death coming.

” He moved to write more but paused, as if sensing the tension in the room.

Brekt lowered his voice further. “You would be wise to explain why you know so much about me.”