The Unmaking (The Last Days of Tian Di, #2)(16)

In the afternoon, Foss was summoned to speak with Kyreth. The Spellmaster was surprised and more than a little apprehensive. Kyreth spoke to Foss rarely these days and only to lay out Eliza’s curriculum. He stood before the Supreme Mancer stiffly while Kyreth looked down at his marble desktop.

“Eliza left yesterday,” said Kyreth.

Foss wasn’t sure if this was a question or a statement. He said nothing.

“How does she seem to you?” asked Kyreth.

“Much as usual,” said Foss, taken aback by the question and the apparent sincerity with which the Supreme Mancer asked it. “She is diligent and makes good progress considering how late she has come to this. Her natural ability is not remarkable, for a Sorceress, but I think it is sufficient.”

“I am referring to her manner. How does her manner seem to you?”

“Why do you ask?”

“I am concerned. She seems unstable to me. She is a deeply angry child, do you not think?”

“I think...” Foss paused before continuing, unsure of how blunt he should be. “I cannot claim to be an expert on human girls but I do not think she is unusual. She is fourteen years old and grew up without the discipline of her foremothers. What may strike you as excessive belligerence or even anger is, I believe, a result of ordinary adolescent turmoil. Not altogether ordinary, of course. She misses her father. Her life is anything but normal. But the attitude you refer to should not, I think, concern us unduly. She will outgrow it.”

“And what do you think of her killing the Cra?”

“I do not weep for them.”

“That is not what I asked.”

“Where did she learn to kill? You left her at the mercy of a hound of the Crossing once. That was her first kill, was it not?”

Kyreth looked annoyed. “It was a test, and a necessary one at that. But self-defense is not the same as hunting. She has no self-control; she is too emotional. Anger drives her and she acts, pity drives her and she acts. She comes and goes as she wishes, she makes imperious demands of us. How are we to impress upon her the importance of her duty? Of restraint?”

“It is difficult for her,” said Foss. “She was not raised among us. If you are asking me for advice, I can only say I believe she is doing her best and requires our patience.”

Kyreth did not look satisfied but he nodded his head.

“Thank you, Spellmaster. I wished to hear your honest opinion and you have given it. She trusts you, I can see. You have great influence with her.”

Foss laughed dryly. “I think it is an exaggeration to say I have any influence.”

“She listens to you. She respects you. Tell me, have you ever spoken to her on the matter of an heir?”

Foss was quiet for a moment and then said simply, “She is still too young.”

“I realize that. I am not saying she should be married now. Only that it is best she be prepared.”

“We have not spoken of it,” Foss replied.

“When she returns, I hope you will speak with her,” said Kyreth. “We cannot risk another debacle such as Rea’s marriage. You may go, Spellmaster. Chart the new holes in the Barrier and inform me immediately if anything worries you.”

Foss hesitated, wondering if he should tell Kyreth what he had seen in his trance. But Kyreth was already turning away from him, towards the Scrolls, and so he bowed and left the study, saying nothing.

~~~

Di Shang was pockmarked with secret, hidden points of entry and exit to the Crossing, that mystical divide between the worlds. There were gaps in the atmosphere that led not into space but to the Crossing, so high up in the sky that they were not, as Charlie put it, human-friendly. There were other entries through boiling vents at the bottom of the ocean. There were whirlpools in rivers that might leave a drowning human or animal stranded on the shore of the Crossing, unable to go back. The Mancers maintained their own access to the Crossing through the dark wood of the Citadel but, of course, Eliza could not use that one without their knowing. The safest way was through certain volcanoes. Harata was a land-locked volcano, several hours east of Kalla. It was a dark red, towering hulk of a mountain, flat on top where its peak had exploded centuries ago.

The flight there was made horribly stressful by the trail of ravens pouring after them. Eliza could not shut out their ugly voices. She buried her hands and her face in the feathers of Charlie’s neck and willed the journey to be over. When they reached the great lava beds of the volcano, the gryphon did not pause for an instant. He headed straight for the crater and plunged into a vent barely wide enough for his wingspan. The ravens did not follow further but circled and swarmed around the mountaintop. Eliza clung to the gryphon’s neck as they shot through the darkness and heat. He landed on a sharp lip of rock that hung over a pool of steaming water and became a boy.

“Do your mojo,” he said, breathless.

Eliza nodded and struggled to regain her composure. Even without the pursuit of the ravens, entry into this volcano was harrowing and working Magic afterwards was not easy. It was a law known to all who crossed over that something of great personal value must be given to the Boatman. Only beings of great power could command him. Eliza was the Shang Sorceress and so she ought to be able to command the Boatman, but so far the Boatman did not agree.

In the utter blackness of the cave, a white misty boat began to form. Eliza called to it in the Language of First Days, “My power spans the worlds and that between the worlds, my power spans the skies and seas of Tian Di, my power is undivided. Where I walk is the ground and what I speak is the truth. The tide will come to me when I beckon, the moon will sink when I point to the horizon. Here I demand a bridge, here where I stand, here I call upon the Boatman of the Crossing, passage to be mine.”