Raven's Strike (Raven #2)(38)

"There have been more?" asked Lehr.

Seraph nodded. "I know of three... four including this one. The Unnamed King was the second. The first one left Colossae with the Elder Wizards who became the Travelers."

"This is the sixth," said Hennea. "That I know of anyway. After the Unnamed King, we knew the signs to watch for. Death follows the Shadowed. I don't see how this one has been hidden from us for so long. Are you certain of the time, Seraph?"

"I may be off ten or fifteen years either way, but not more than that." She shared Hennea's apprehension. The Shadowed, like those who were tainted, gained power over the years. "There were the plagues a couple of decades ago - one killed Isolde's clan except for my brother and me. There were other clans lightened of their members, too." She hesitated. "The Path started killing Travelers for their Orders about the same time."

"That is not a coincidence," agreed Hennea. "Maybe we have grown so few over the last few generations that no one noticed the patterns of death."

"Mother," said Lehr suddenly. "If the Shadowed touched other things here, could you tell?"

Hennea answered. "The Path's Masters, the wizards who came and stole Tier away, left before the temple was finished. If the Shadowed was among them, he did not stay here. Only Volis used the rooms beyond the Great Chamber..." She cleared her throat. "Only Volis and I. I don't think we'll find anything else here on which the Shadowed left enough of an impression for Seraph to read anything."

"If we had not killed Volis, he could tell us where he got that map case," mused Seraph.

"I've apologized for that," Hennea said.

Seraph looked at her in surprise. "I didn't like being tricked, Hennea. I never said he didn't need killing."

She turned her attention back to the problem of finding the Shadowed. "However, I think if the Shadowed was able to hide what he was from Jes and Lehr for a time, if no Traveler has noticed his existence in two centuries, he has learned how to hide what he is. The impressions from the map are from when he was newly touched."

"He went to Colossae?" said Lehr. "I thought Colossae was destroyed."

"Sacrificed," agreed Hennea. "But the stones were sealed to seal the bindings."

Seraph hadn't heard that part before. "What does that mean?"

Hennea smiled suddenly. "I don't know. What did you see from the maps?"

"The Shadowed saw Colossae," Seraph said. "So the city must still stand."

"Do all the Shadowed go to Colossae to become what they are?" asked Rinnie.

"I don't know," Seraph said, turning to Hennea.

"I've never heard that," Hennea said. "I don't know how many people outside of the Travelers even know there was ever a city like Colossae."

"Have any of the Shadowed been Travelers?" asked Lehr.

"No," Seraph said firmly.

"The first one was," Hennea reminded her. "If he came out of Colossae."

"No," Seraph said. "He was a Colossae wizard."

Hennea smiled again. "That's slicing the roast pretty thinly, don't you think? We are all descendants of the Colossae wizards."

"I don't think so," said Seraph slowly. "I've always thought it was no accident that solsenti wizards are the only ones who have been driven to become Shadowed."

"You sound as if they are not making their own choices," said Hennea. "Are you making excuses for them?"

Seraph didn't bother arguing with the disapproval in Hennea's voice. "It must be a terrible thing to be a solsenti wizard. Every little cantrip is a combination of ritual and components. Some wizards live their whole lives knowing they have enormous potential for power, but able to do only little magics for lack of knowledge. Most are not that unlucky, but for every major spell they have to spend hours in preparation and years in study. And here we are, we Ravens, flying free where they must crawl. It must be galling."

"You look for excuses where there are none," commented Hennea dryly. "Though I suppose you are right, and so should be grateful most solsenti wizards don't know enough about the Stalker to be dangerous."

She started rerolling a map as she finished speaking. Seraph took another and rolled it as well. When all of them were stored in the satchel, Hennea closed the buckles and handed the map case to Rinnie.

"You have maps to a world long lost, Cormorant," she said. "This bag is spelled by one of the Elder Wizards of Colossae. It is a treasure entrusted to you."

Jes stuck his head into the room. "I found something," he said.

Tier expected the tavern to be nearly empty, but it was full of strangers, mostly hired swords, he thought. They were probably from some merchant's caravan just passing through.

Maneuvering around the extra people, he found an unoccupied table in a corner and took a seat. Regil, the tavern owner, saw him and rushed over.

"Tier, welcome," he said. "I was just hoping you or Ciro would be stopping through to keep this lot occupied. Our midday meal is bread from your sister's ovens and fresh sausage - and you are welcome to it if you'll sing."

Tier smiled. "I'd be happy to, but I was helping my sister this morning. I didn't bring my lute."