Beyond the Prophecy Read online

  Beyond the Prophecy

  Dual Magics Book 3

  By Meredith Mansfield

  Copyright 2015 Meredith Mansfield

  Kindle Edition

  Cover Images:

  Background Image: Copyright Marushin | Dreamstime.com

  White bird: Copyright Paul Reeves | Dreamstime.com

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1: Ambush

  Chapter 2: Trust

  Chapter 3: Kausalya

  Chapter 4: Concessions

  Chapter 5: Fish and Festivals

  Chapter 6: Damage Control

  Chapter 7: Wave

  Chapter 8: Distant Manipulation

  Chapter 9: Notoriety

  Chapter 10: Compulsion

  Chapter 11: Burn Out

  Chapter 12: Escape

  Chapter 13: Cheated

  Chapter 14: Explorations

  Chapter 15: Bad News

  Chapter 16: Winter Wonders

  Chapter 17: Contingencies

  Chapter 18: Commitments

  Chapter 19: Negotiations

  Chapter 20: The Test

  Chapter 21: Discovered

  Chapter 22: Delegation

  Chapter 23: Return to the Valley

  Chapter 24: Zoria

  Chapter 25: Volunteers

  Chapter 26: Tested

  Chapter 27: Going Separate Ways

  Chapter 28: Avatars

  Chapter 29: River Crossing

  Chapter 30: Nightmare

  Chapter 31: Aftermath

  Chapter 32: Newcomers to Caere

  Chapter 33: Two Councils

  Chapter 34: The Spirit of the Eagle

  Chapter 35: Patrols

  Chapter 36: Flying Lessons

  Chapter 37: Grand Tour

  Chapter 38: Informant

  Chapter 39: Guild Council

  Chapter 40: Inside Information

  Chapter 41: First Flight

  Chapter 42: Far Sight

  Chapter 43: Homeward Bound

  Chapter 44: Managing Expectations

  Chapter 45: Switching Roles

  Chapter 46: The Chase

  Chapter 47: Captured

  Chapter 48: Counterplots

  Chapter 49: Escape Plans

  Chapter 50: Distractions

  Chapter 51: Soaring to Freedom

  Chapter 52: Directions

  Chapter 53: Winter Retreat

  Chapter 54: Alliance

  Chapter 55: Truth

  Excerpt

  Map

  Genealogies

  Cast of Characters

  Peoples

  The Story So Far

  About the Author

  Chapter 1: Ambush

  Vatar breathed deeply as the road they’d been following faded into the grasses of the plains. Ahead of them the world was only grass-covered earth and cloudless sky, the two melding imperceptibly at the far horizon. Just as the world should be. He’d been born on these plains and returning still felt like coming home.

  He took a firmer grip on Savara, his four-year-old daughter, and turned in his saddle to smile at his wife. Thekila smiled back, cradling their infant son in a Dardani-style sling.

  Now that they’d left the last of the outlying farms behind them, Vatar turned his attention to scanning their surroundings. He wouldn’t expect many predators this close to the city, but it paid to be careful. He let the remainder of their party sort themselves out. None were new to the plains. They’d all be alert to the dangers in their own ways. Even the dogs they’d brought along from their own farm scented the air and ranged a little ahead or to the side, ready to warn of any danger.

  They were just out of sight of the tree line that marked that last farm when Vatar twitched his shoulders against the prickly feeling that usually presaged danger of some kind. He looked back along their little column. His half-brother, Orleus, stared off in the direction of a small copse of scrubby trees not far off their path, eyes narrowed. Vatar followed his gaze. The tall grasses swayed, but not with the wind.

  “Is that a lion?” Orleus asked.

  “No,” Vatar answered.

  Bringing up the rear, Vatar’s cousin, Arcas, added, “I wouldn’t have to wait to see the movement to know if it was a lion. The only lions nearby are in the opposite direction.”

  Vatar nodded. His connection to the Spirit of the Lion told him the same thing. Which didn’t rule out other predators, of course. Bear was unlikely, but wolves might range this close to the farms. So might a swiftcat, hoping to take down a stray goat.

  Thekila stopped her horse and turned her eyes skyward, tracking an eagle circling high above. Using her connection to the Spirit of the Eagle, she looked at the prairie through the bird’s eyes and shared what she saw with Vatar through their bond. He blinked, adjusting to the dizzying view. Tiny figures moved below. Five larger than the rest, surrounded by five smaller. That would be themselves and the dogs. But they weren’t alone.

  Vatar drew in his breath sharply. Seven—no, eight—men crept towards them, four on each side, swords drawn. “Ambush!” Eight against five—four, really, since Thekila knew nothing of fighting on horseback. And three of them encumbered with the children, because Thekila’s friend Quetza carried Savara’s twin brother in front of her. At least they were mounted against men on foot. That would give them some advantage. And, untrained or not, Thekila wasn’t helpless, by any means.

  Vatar reined his horse in close to Thekila’s and lifted a squirming Savara to set her before Thekila. Protecting her and the children was the first priority and he’d need both hands for that. Then he pulled his spear out of its sheath, glad he’d refitted it with a longer shaft for use on horseback before they left home. Vatar yelled, “Everybody, keep together.”

  Quetza closed up beside Thekila. Good. Besides carrying Zavar, she was a good fighter in her own right. Vatar trusted her to help keep Thekila and his children safe.

  The Dardani herd dogs barked a late warning and would have run into the grass. Vatar whistled them back and gave them the command to guard. There was only one more layer of protection at his disposal. Vatar cast his magical shield to protect Thekila, Quetza, and the children as the first of the attackers stood up and rushed towards them. He didn’t want to keep that up for long. He was the only one who could cast it, but the shield drew its power from Thekila. Best to get this over as quickly as possible. The clashing of steel on steel told him Arcas and Orleus had already met the assailants on the other side.

  The first man bounced off the shield, which was invisible even to those with magic. Vatar lowered his spear point and spurred his horse forward, taking the man in the chest before he had time to catch his balance. Vatar reined his horse around to face the next enemy. That man had gotten close enough to strike upward with his sword. Vatar parried the stroke with his spear, but froze at a wash of fear from Thekila. Had his shield failed to protect her and the children? He wavered for an instant between dealing with his opponent or turning to protect his family. Not us. You. Be careful, Thekila’s voice said in his mind. Vatar’s hesitation had allowed the man to draw his sword back for another blow. Vatar swerved his horse out of the way and then swung his spear point across his attacker’s throat.

  Behind you! Thekila warned. Vatar wheeled his horse in the opposite direction and saw the next enemy struggling to move a sword apparently stuck in midair. In spite of the seriousness of the situation, one side of his mouth quirked up. Thekila’s work, without a doubt, freezing that sword in place. Vatar swung the butt of his spear up into the man’s jaw, laying him out unconscious. The sword arced out away from the fight.

  Another wash of fear from Thekila hit Vatar like a wall, just at the moment that both Savara and Zav
ar wailed in terror. It wasn’t fear for him this time. Vatar spun his horse and cursed. One of their attackers had slipped past Vatar and around the shield he’d cast. The shield only covered one side and the larger he tried to make it, the more power it drew from Thekila.

  Quetza gripped Zavar tight to her left side with one hand and used Orleus’s old sword to parry the man’s blade. Blood dripped from a slash by her ear and a spot of blood on her sleeve indicated a possible wound to her sword arm, but Quetza’s blade didn’t waver. If she was impeded by Zavar, the attacker was at least equally hampered by the three dogs snapping at his legs. Vatar dropped the now-useless shield and urged his horse forward. At the sound of the approaching hooves, the man turned, and Quetza, taking advantage of the opening, pierced his sword arm with her blade. The man dropped his sword and Thekila sent it spinning deep into the tall grass with a glance.

  Vatar forced himself to ignore Thekila and Quetza trying to soothe the sobbing children to check what was happening on the other side. Arcas fought with one of their attackers, hampered by a bleeding wound to his left shoulder. Orleus’s two dogs had pulled another of the enemy down, though the bigger dog was bleeding from a gash along his shoulder. Even as Vatar watched, Orleus’s war-trained horse reared up and struck Orleus’s opponent with his hooves. The man dropped like one of Savara’s rag dolls, his head tilted at an impossible angle. Broken neck, most likely. The fourth man tried to run back toward Caere. Orleus spurred after him, the faster of his two hunting dogs speeding ahead. That man didn’t have a chance of getting away. Vatar left Orleus to it and went to help Arcas.

  Seeing another rider barreling down on him, the remaining attacker threw down his sword. Vatar kept his spear leveled at the man’s chest. “How bad are you hurt?” he asked Arcas.

  Arcas shrugged his left shoulder and winced slightly. “Not bad, I think. I’ll last until we’ve dealt with these, anyway.”

  Vatar nodded and fished in his saddlebag for a length of rope. He tossed the rope to Arcas, who dismounted and started tying up their captive. As Arcas worked, the man’s dun-colored cape twitched aside, revealing the blue and green uniform of the Temple Guard. Vatar and Arcas exchanged a glance and Arcas pulled the bonds tighter. Finishing with the first, they moved on systematically to the man still held captive by Orleus’s bigger tracking dog and the one detained by Quetza and the herding dogs, and finally the one Vatar had knocked unconscious. Meanwhile, Thekila cleaned and tended Quetza’s wounds.

  By then, Orleus and Arrow came back, driving a fifth man before them. Arcas quickly tied him up with the others.

  “They’re Temple Guards,” Orleus said.

  Vatar nodded. “We know.” He dismounted and advanced on the nearest man, his Dardani long knife in his hand. With the blade to the man’s throat, he asked, “Who sent you?”

  The man said nothing, cold eyes daring Vatar.

  This was the man Quetza had wounded. Orleus twisted his injured arm savagely. “You were asked a question. I’d advise you to answer it.”

  “Gerusa!” the man said, gasping from the pain. “It was High Councilor Gerusa. She paid us to kill you.”

  Vatar narrowed his eyes. This one had been caught while attacking Quetza—and Zavar. “Who, exactly, were you supposed to kill?”

  The man clamped his mouth shut until Orleus twisted his arm again. “All of you.”

  “All of us?” Thekila’s voice held an unaccustomed tremor. “Even the babies?”

  The man had the grace to avert his eyes. “Yes.”

  Vatar closed his eyes and drew in several deep breaths, trying to calm himself. When he felt he could control his voice, he gestured to the fallen men. “See to Arcas’s wound and your dog. Then gather up the bodies. I’m going to bespeak Father. He needs to know about this.”

  Orleus and Arcas nodded.

  “Father!” Vatar called with his mind.

  “Vatar? What is it? I thought you were leaving for Zeda today.”

  Vatar gritted his teeth. “We did. We were ambushed soon after we reached the plains.”

  “Are you all right? What about Thekila and the children?” Father’s mental voice was immediately concerned.

  “Minor wounds only, Father. We have five prisoners. The other three are dead. They’re Temple Guards. Gerusa sent them.”

  Father huffed in anger and frustration. “That bitch never did understand the concept of defeat. Are you going to bring them back?”

  Vatar shook his head, even though he knew Father couldn’t see it. “No. I think we’re at the limit of Gerusa’s reach. She’d have trouble sending anyone farther onto the plains than this. If we turned around, we could be walking into another trap. Or she might try something else. We’re safer going forward from here, I think.”

  “What will you do with your prisoners?”

  Vatar glanced toward where Orleus and Arcas had dumped the five survivors in the sparse shade of a bush, upwind from the place where the three bodies had been collected. “We’ve tied them up and we’re going to leave them right here. The High Council can send someone for them. Or not. If not, the lions will likely find them.”

  “That’s not like you, Vatar.”

  Vatar drew a few more deep breaths before answering. “It wasn’t just me they were sent to kill. They would have killed Thekila and my children, too. And they took Gerusa’s orders with that understanding. They don’t deserve any better.”

  “I’ll send someone out to retrieve them. And to arrest Gerusa.” Father’s voice vibrated with an echo of Vatar’s anger.

  “Thank you, Father. I’ll contact you again when we reach Zeda.”

  “Have a safe trip. The rest of it, anyway.”

  Vatar rode up in front of the prisoners. “I’ve informed High Councilor Veleus that you’re here. He’ll send someone to retrieve you. You’d better hope that they find you before the lions do.” He half closed his eyes in concentration and gestured to the south. “There’s a pride of lions about two miles that way. They’re not quite ready to hunt, yet. So you have a chance. Of course, the smell of blood may draw them.”

  Before they started forward again, Vatar took Savara back from Thekila. The little girl clung to him as he set her in front of him. “I told you I’d never let them hurt you again.”

  Savara nodded.

  “Let’s ride,” Vatar said as Thekila moved her horse beside his.

  ~

  When they reached Zeda late on the third day, Vatar smiled to see his whole family, including Thekila’s younger brother, Theklan waiting for them. Clearly, Thekila had forewarned her brother by Far Speech and he’d shared the information. There might be some advantages to having just these few Dardani know about his magic after all.

  He waited until they were settled into the coolness of their sod hut, which had already been prepared for them, before contacting his father again. “Father?”

  “Yes, Vatar?”

  “We’ve arrived safely at Zeda. I said I’d let you know.” Vatar paused a moment. His earlier anger had faded on the second day—and become tinged with just a hint of guilt. He didn’t think he’d guessed wrong, but . . . “Did the men you sent find the ambushers? Before the lions got there?”

  Father chuckled. “Not exactly. But the lions started with the ones that were already dead, so the live ones were brought back without any additional injuries. Physically, anyway. But you knew that would happen, didn’t you?”

  Vatar let out a relieved sigh. “I thought it would. Lions usually won’t waste energy when they don’t need to. What about Gerusa?”

  Father sighed. “Gerusa seems to have had more informants than we realized. She knew that her ambush had failed. Before I could get the High Council to issue an order for her arrest, she’d already fled Caere. It’s almost certain that she took ship to Kausalya.”

  “Won’t Kausalya just return her if you ask?” Vatar asked.

  “Possibly. We’ve certainly warned them about her and asked for her return. But Gerusa has support
ers there, too.”

  “Why?” Vatar asked.

  “The mutiny of the unTalented here last winter caused a lot of concern among the Kausalyan Council. They wanted to implement some rather draconian measures to prevent it from spreading to them. Gerusa backed them. Well, she was always one for exerting more control rather than less. There’s at least a chance they’ll give her shelter instead of returning her to us.”

  Vatar grimaced. He hated having an enemy—and there was no doubt Gerusa was his enemy—on the loose. Still, Kausalya was a small city on the coast south of Caere, founded mostly on farming the rich river delta. Vatar had no plans to go there. “Hopefully, she’s far enough away.”

  “Watch your back, Vatar. If I know Gerusa—and I do—she hasn’t given up. It’s not in her vocabulary. She can’t reach you among the Dardani. But be careful when you come back.”

  “I will, Father.” Vatar paused. He’d given this some thought during the rest of the journey. “We’re not planning to stay long this trip. I may find a few sturdy Dardani to come back with us to help manage the herd. With the three children along, it’d be hard for just Arcas and me even with the dogs. We’ll leave early enough that there’ll be plenty of time for them to get back to Zeda before the clans break up for the autumn.”

  “That sounds like a good plan.”

  ~

  The next morning, they gathered again on the edge of the village to say goodbye to Orleus and Quetza.

  Thekila looked between the two. “Be careful.”

  Orleus shrugged. “Oh, I don’t think even Mother could pay anyone to come this far to attack us. No, that danger will always be closer in to Caere—and Kausalya, now, I suppose. That could cause some inconvenience in the future.”

  “Still . . . just take care of each other,” Thekila said.

  Quetza grinned. “We will. Don’t worry about that.”

  Vatar slapped Orleus’s leg. “Fair skies, you two.”

  Orleus smiled. “For you, also. We’ll meet again. Maybe this winter. Or next year, here at Zeda.”

  “And, in the meantime, we’re never farther away than this.” Quetza tapped the side of her head to indicate Far Speech.