Chapter 45
Orra’s skin practically glowed as she basked in the Sun’s light from her perch on the northern keep’s balcony. She’d sensed the scouts coming in from the north all morning, but she’d resisted the urge to reach out for the information they brought.
Her power was finally starting to replenish, not to the amount she’d had before Aeliana had crossed the barrier, but more than she’d had before they’d faced Mayvus.
If she continued to fast from using it, she might be able to find the balance she’d once had, giving her just enough magic to continue tracking down the starbridges.
As she made her way down the tower steps, the scouts arrived at the gate, and she sensed the mood of the entire fortress shift as word spread of their arrival.
She stopped at Emeris and Rildan’s room to invite them to the main hall, then again at Marnok’s door.
By the time they all arrived there, General Nels was instructing the scouts to head for the training room to give their report.
A surge of compassion for the scouts rushed through Orra.
One of the men was young—a fresh recruit who’d likely just left home for the first time.
The other two had battle scars and age lines, but all of them had weary eyes and dragging feet.
The older two gave suspicious glances to Marnok, but the third seemed too exhausted to notice or care.
They’d barely had a chance to sit at the table before General Nels demanded they give their update.
“The Ahmranans were gathered at Ahmranan’s Viewpoint,” one of the older men said, glancing at Orra.
“Just like she told us. At first we thought there were only a few dozen, but there’s a network of caves there, and the longer we watched, the more it seemed like there were hundreds, if not thousands, hidden in the caves. ”
Orra sat up a little straighter. “Thousands?”
The second scout nodded. “We didn’t recognize any of them, so it took us a while to catch that it was different people coming out each day.
Once we realized our mistake, we snuck into the caverns and found one that had over a thousand men and women.
We suspect there are several other caverns that size, but we weren’t able to assess further without putting ourselves at risk, and we felt it was more pertinent to return with the information we’d gathered. ”
“Of course,” General Nels said, waving off the apologetic excuse. “But are you suggesting none of these men were the soldiers who deserted after the battle?”
The first man hesitated. “There might be a few. I didn’t know any of them personally, to be certain, but it seems as if they’re all from Ahmranas.” He glanced around the room as if concerned his suggestion was outrageous, but everyone else’s lips pressed into grim lines.
This was what they’d expected.
“So she’s bringing back an army,” General Nels said. “One that’s far larger than ours.”
A tear tracked down the young scout’s face, and he quickly wiped it away.
Despite Orra’s determination to hold back her energy, she placed a hand on his shoulder, letting her power flow through and bolster his courage. He blinked a few times, then sat a little straighter.
“We watched for several days,” he said. “Longer than you told us to, because we wanted to make sure we had accurate information. We saw a group of three leave with the starbridge once more—”
“You saw the onyx stone?” Orra’s eyes briefly slid shut.
“From a distance, but it couldn’t have been anything else with the way they disappeared. “We couldn’t wait any longer to watch for their return. But yes, we assume she’s building an army of Ahmranans.”
“We never were able to tell if they were aiming for a certain number or a certain date.” The first scout shook his head in his frustration. “For all we know, they could have been following right behind us.”
“With Summer Solstice long past,” Orra said, “I doubt she’s aiming for a date. Now it’s going to be a matter of when she feels like her numbers can tip our scales.”
General Nels hummed his agreement. “If she already has a few thousand, she could be bringing back a thousand or more each time.”
Orra tried to imagine a thousand soldiers crossing the barrier at once. The power of the starbridge was astounding. And yet it was a fraction of what it had once been. She rubbed the braid at her wrist.
“She knows our numbers have dwindled,” General Nels continued. “It might only take her two or three more trips to feel secure enough to come back and stake her claim.”
For the first time, Emeris showed concern. “That soon? Aeliana and the others won’t be back by then.”
“Which means they’ll be safe,” Orra said softly.
Emeris nodded, but her gaze clouded over as she descended into one of her occasional states of confusion.
It had grown worse with Aeliana’s absence.
In some moments, like now, it seemed like a self-defense mechanism, where she allowed herself to retreat into her mind so she didn’t have to face the terrible reality.
“There’s more,” the first scout said. His gaze flicked to Orra, and he licked his lips nervously.
“Spit it out,” General Nels growled.
He winced, his gaze somewhere around General Nels’ chest. “They’re communing with the Stars.”
“The Stars?” Orra’s mind raced as she took in the meaning. “The Stars are communing with Mayvus and the Ahmranans?” He might as well have said the Stars were communing with the witches.
It stung to be told something she hadn’t foreseen. Her magic had grown so weak over the years that she couldn’t search many paths, but her experience gave her wisdom to search the right ones. Or it had until recently.
“Are you certain?” General Nels asked. “No one has communed with the Stars for hundreds of years. Did you see light come down from the heavens? Maybe Mayvus is doing something with her magic, some sort of trick that mimics their descent.”
“They’ve begun communing again,” Orra said slowly.
“Reyna told me as much. She just didn’t say who…
” She frowned, thinking through Reyna’s words.
The Star had come to collect Jasperus’ body and starlock after they’d defeated the Zealots, but she’d been as aloof as ever with Orra.
After making the cryptic comment that they’d found people worthy of communing with, she’d taken to the skies, leaving Orra alone with her regrets.
“We saw the lights come down,” the scout continued, his tongue loosening after Orra’s confirmation.
“Not every night, but most nights. Two or three separate lights. At first we thought someone had died or had their Awakening, but it was happening so much we knew that couldn’t be right.
We snuck closer one night, and…” He trailed off, exchanging glances with the others.
“We only saw them from afar,” the second said, “but they were brilliant.” His face shone with the memory, and tears sprang to Orra’s eyes. “And they stood among the people, talking to them.”
Orra blinked the tears away, remembering the sense of completeness with communing, the joy of giving people the briefest glimpse of the Sun’s glory, of leading them to reflect its power in the same way.
She pinched her temples between her thumb and fingers, warding off the headache she sensed coming. “Why the Ahmranans?”
Reyna had told her they were communing with a select few.
It was exactly how it had begun all those years ago.
The Sun had created the humans and the Stars, allowing them to mingle together on the earth.
At first, the Stars’ visits were rare. They couldn’t bear to leave the Sun’s presence in the sky, to give up the opportunity to reflect its glory.
The privilege of communion with a Star was highly sought after by the humans, and Orra supposed that history was how they’d begun to be worshiped on the other side of the barrier.
But the Stars grew to love the humans, even bonded with them and created a new people group with starblood in their veins—magic that had to be taught and tamed.
Stars gave up locks of hair to enhance their children’s magic, encasing them in intricate stones that the half-lights wore around their necks.
But all of that had been good, blessed by the Sun.
There was nothing good about this. Even if Mayvus hadn’t been involved, she questioned it.
Before the Great Divide, the Ahmranans had been a bitter people group who had hidden in the north to breed the highest starblood concentrations possible.
They’d sought power for themselves, not for the glory of the Sun.
After the Great Divide, they’d been stuck there, forced to become as hard as their frigid surroundings.
The people brought over in her days as Pirate Redwood were evidence of that.
Could their descendants have changed so much that the Stars chose to commune with them?
It seemed unlikely if those same descendants were following Mayvus.
“I’m not sure the why matters,” General Nels said. “What matters is that they have Stars on their side. Our numbers aren’t likely to matter in that case.”
Orra swallowed hard, afraid to confirm his words even though they were, without a doubt, accurate.
Perhaps she’d taken too long to reunite the starbridges.
Perhaps she’d failed in the mission the Sun had given her so long ago.
Would the rest of the Stars make their own mistakes?
Would more be grounded? How much more would Rhystahn feel the effects of the stone she’d thrown?
“We need to warn the others,” Rildan said. “Now’s the time to send Gullet.”
“Gullet can’t cross the barriers,” Orra said. “If we send him now, he’ll grow confused if he can’t find them. Who knows if he’d come back here or await Gaeren in Elanesse?”
“Aeliana crossed the barrier?” Emeris asked, rising from the cloud of confusion she’d been under.
Rildan and Marnok exchanged a glance.
“About a week ago. Soon after I arrived,” Marnok said.
“Where will they return?” General Nels asked.
Orra shrugged. “I suspect somewhere on the west coast. I know the least about that starbridge. I found the stone and cutlass ages ago, but the fish and arrow were only found and used in the last hundred years.”
The scouts squirmed at her casual mention of her longevity, the youngest even flinching away from her despite the comfort she’d previously offered.
“We thank you for the update,” Orra said. “Is there anything more? I’m assuming you’d all love to wash off the dust of the Bahlric Desert.”
General Nels frowned at her but didn’t disagree, so the three men took their leave.
“So now what?” Emeris asked. “Do we send a delegation to the Elanesses asking for aid?”
“I was thinking more that we send you away for your safety.” General Nels raised a hand to silence her protests. “But if sending you as part of a delegation makes it seem more tasteful, I’m open to that that.”
“I can’t leave these people,” Emeris said. “They fought to rescue me, and you want me to abandon them?”
“They rescued you to keep you safe,” the general amended.
Orra was tempted to search the general’s fate, to know if staying here with the soldiers would mean his death. But knowing his fate wouldn’t allow her to impact it, so it was best left untouched.
“What if we travel by sea?” Rildan suggested. “We can’t go north and risk running into Mayvus, but traveling around the Southern Horn is still faster than traveling across land. We could even watch for Aeliana and the others so we can be there to warn them whenever they arrive.”
“Be where?” Marnok asked. “The west coast is a large expanse of land.”
“I might be able to trace them when they return,” Orra said, wincing at the thought of the magic that would require.
“Or we can take Gullet and tell them where to find us. In the meantime, we can maybe catch wind of where Larkos is. They would have made plans to meet up with him on their return. If nothing else so Gaeren can collect his ship.” A faint smile crossed her lips at his connection with the vessel, but her mind was back hundreds of years, relishing her own connection with a ship that had saved her life a hundred times over.
“Maybe you should stay with them instead of going to the Elanesses,” General Nels said. “Asking them for aid reveals our weaknesses and sets us up for an attack on two fronts. It might be better to wait and only contact them if Myndren falls.”
“Then you should keep Gullet,” Orra said. “Send him to Gaeren if Myndren falls so we know what to do.” As General Nels pursed his lips, Orra sensed he knew Myndren’s fall was a matter of when, not if.
“Then we’re not leaving as delegates.” Emeris lifted her chin. “It sounds like we’re just running.”
“We can’t protect Aeliana if we’re under siege here,” Rildan pointed out. “Aeliana is the hope for these people. Reaching her might be a more worthy destination than seeking aid anyway.”
Emeris sighed. “Is it just the four of us, then?”
Orra glanced at Rildan and Marnok, who nodded, and she did the same. “How soon can we leave?”
“We’ll need a day to prepare,” Rildan said, “but we can leave the next.”
“On one condition,” General Nels said.
“Only one?” Orra said in mock surprise. “Name your price.”
Instead of cracking a smile, the lines of his face grew harder. “You send away the winex.”