Shadows of Home Read online

  "Possibly. I do not know."

  "Then we'll save that question for Lotrug. Tell me about what happened when Auz went dark."

  "That I can tell you about in detail." Jaan stopped pacing right in front of Ean and stared down at him from behind his bulbous yellow nose. "It happened at dusk, after the miners had left for the day but before the last rays of sun reached as far as they could into our home. The guiding runes went dark without warning, not something that would bother any of the denizens of the mines, except the suddenness of it did make me worry. I went to the Heart right away and found your pet rock as you see it now."

  "Nothing else you can remember? Even something you might not think has any relevance?"

  "No. Lights went out. Stone was dark. I questioned each of our little commune's members to see if anyone knew anything. The imps and Maruks were useless. The other Crux had all been eating at the time and noticed nothing, even after spreading out and searching our home. It was after we determined that the tunnels were all secure that Lotrug reminded me of the recent human deaths he had previously reported, but as I said, I dismissed it."

  "Well, that's less then helpful," Azalea murmured loud enough that anyone in the room could have heard.

  "As are your comments, Yulari wench," Jaan replied with a sneer.

  Ean didn't even acknowledge their exchange. "None of this makes any sense. If Auz had been in trouble or had to go silent for some other reason, I'm sure it would have let me know. I don't think its dead either. When we found its previous incarnation back in Zin's old master's lair, it had been broken into pieces, with each piece scorched to the point they were black. Auz looks completely intact and more or less undamaged." Ean ran a hand over its surface, then nodded as he found what he was looking for. "Even the runes that were used to summon most of the denizens of our home are still etched onto its surface. I can feel the faintest hint of Abysmal energy on the runes, but I can't feel anything from Auz itself." He shook his head. "It just doesn't make any sense."

  "You summoned me, Zekarian?" Lotrug said in his broken human accent. He entered the room with hurried steps, Zin close behind him.

  "Yes, are the humans taken care of?"

  "They are. A section of the tunnels previously mined completely of its ore has been provided to them. The imps are fetching materials that can be used as beds and to create torches for light. I was unable to provide more before I was called back."

  "Excellent." One problem solved at least. "Jaan told me that you reported a few murders to him. I want to know about them."

  "No one here has been murdered," the Crux replied. "Everyone you freed from the Abyss is alive and accounted for."

  Ean pushed down the annoyance that was trying to bubble its way to the surface. "I was talking about the humans who were murdered. I need you to tell me everything you've overheard from the miners."

  "Oh," the Crux replied. When he remained silent for more than a few moments, Ean let out a sigh.

  "Can you tell me right now?"

  "No." The crux must have seen the growing frustration in Ean's expression as he quickly continued on. "I am trying to think of the human words that were used. It is still difficult for me to speak in their language."

  "Then just speak in your own. Everyone here can understand it. It would be better anyway since Jaan finds human language offensive and refuses to learn it anyway."

  "Oh," the Crux said, switching back to his native tongue. "Then yes, I can tell you right now what was said."

  "Please do."

  "The first thing I heard," Lotrug started, his eyes drifting up to the ceiling as if the memories could be found there, "was that a human had died. The miners seemed upset about this as they entered the mine. I have grown accustomed to them mentioning when one of their own passes of natural causes or an accident, but this time was different. They seemed more afraid than sad. They acted strange around me as well at first, quieting down whenever I drew near and constantly casting looks in my direction."

  "Probably because they blamed us," Azalea said as she moved to the center of the room and leaned against Auz.

  "I do not know," Lotrug continued. "When the second human died, they seemed to open up. They spoke of the first man’s murder; they said how he had been torn apart in his own home without his neighbors hearing the slightest sound. Despite the carnage, none of the pieces showed any sign of an animal attack."

  "Which is why they probably assumed it was one of us." Zin took a seat near Ean, closer than Azalea was leaning, which of course caused a bit of annoyance to flow through her bond with Ean. The two always had to try and one-up each other, which only made his life more complicated. He tried his best to ignore them both and focus on the Crux.

  Lotrug nodded. "One of the miners eventually said as much later, but the second death was different. It was clear this one had been killed by man-made tools. The man had been stabbed multiple times in the middle of the night and left to bleed out on his floor. Again, no one heard a sound. The third death was exactly the same. The miners seemed very afraid at this point."

  "Those murdered," Ean cut in. "Did you get any of their names?"

  "No, but it was mentioned they were newer immigrants to Rottwealth. None of the original citizens have been hurt."

  "Alright." Ean racked his brain. "What else did you learn?"

  "The mayor has been trying to lay all the blame at your feet. It seems after the first death, most were ready to listen to him. After the second death, however, fewer believed him. Even less after the third."

  "That's surprising the villagers would honestly tell you that," Azalea said. She slid along Auz's surface until she was closer to Ean, closer than Zin was to him. Ean clenched his fists in annoyance but kept his mouth shut.

  "Despite learning their language, I do not know humans well," Lotrug said with a frown. "But I believe they told me this because they were afraid and possibly looking for our protection. None said as much directly, but they acted similarly to how weaker creatures in the Abyss settle near a Crux settlement."

  "All important information--" Ean began.

  "I don't see how," Jaan countered.

  "Because people are dying, Jaan," Ean growled, his annoyance starting to overwhelm his self-control. "You might not think much of them, but a threat to them can just as easily turn into a threat to us. Three dead in a short amount of time is a problem, whether it relates to Auz's silence or not. It’s just another problem that we have to add to the list." While chasing after Sadiek drops lower on the same list. The thought was born out of Ean's annoyance, but it also brought something else to his mind: Sadiek's words.

  "Oh, I wasn't finished. You interrupted before I even mentioned my plans for Rottwealth."

  "Strong words. But who says that I haven't already--"

  "Sadiek." Ean muttered, which immediately set off anger and fear through his bonds with both Azalea and Zin alike. "He mentioned having some plan for Rottwealth. I had hoped it was just an attempt to distract me. At worst a threat that I might be able to stop if I caught him or got here first. It’s completely possible Sadiek is somehow behind the murders or what happened to Auz. Maybe even both."

  "That slimey human piece of--" Azalea began.

  "Carnslug excrement," Zin said right behind her.

  "Maybe that is true," Jaan countered, "but we have no proof of this man's involvement in either situation. Those entering and exiting the mines are watched at all times. No one new has been reported." Jann swung his gaze over to Lotrug. "Correct?"

  "Correct," Lotrug replied with a nod of his head. "Every human coming into the mine has been the same ones approved since we first granted them access."

  "So, this Sadiek has not directly affected Auz," Jaan said, as if the matter was closed.

  Zin let out a sigh. "And he would be too smart to come into the village with you close on his heels. So, the evidence doesn't point to his involvement in either case."

  "I won't rule it out." Some of the tension left Ean
's shoulders as he spoke. "But you both are right. Which leaves us back where we started with not even the slightest lead for either problem."

  Silence filled the room. Ean racked his brain for ideas but came up short. He knew practically nothing but Auz besides that it had served Zin's previous master in some different incarnation and now served him. He could try to read through his Abysmal Tome again, but he had tried that before in regards to Auz and come up blank. The book from the Abyss only spoke of each creature in the Abyss and nothing else. As far as Auz went, Ean was as ignorant about it as he was about how to track down a murderer. He wasn't even sure which problem was the most important. If whatever was murdering people in Rottwealth was only focusing on newer additions to the village, that meant all the people he just brought were in grave danger. He had promised them safety here, a sanctuary from violence. Instead he had brought them somewhere they might be in just as much danger from an unknown killer as they had been from the appearance of the Seekers in their village. It all left Ean feeling lost and powerless.

  "I have an idea." Zin's voice broke the silence. "But no one is going to like it."

  Ean shrugged. "At this point what do we have to lose?"

  "Alright." Despite his acknowledgment, Zin remained silent for a few moments. The imp stood in place, rubbing at his knuckles while he stared off into a dark corner of the room.

  "Stop being so dramatic." Azalea smirked as she spoke. "Let's hear your brilliant idea."

  "Ean needs to summon an Eish'amalga."

  "What?" Azalea sounded shocked.

  "Madness." Jaan stormed over to the imp. For a moment, Ean actually thought the Crux was going to stomp on him. Instead, he simply pointed a massive finger at the smaller creature. "Their kind can't be trusted."

  "I agree." Zin raised his hands defensively as he took a step back from the Crux. "But there was one specific creature that served my last master faithfully and seemed to understand a little of the former version of Auz. He was called the Tataren'bala, and as far as I could tell, he was loyal. If he was pulled back into the Abyss just as I was after our master's death, there is a chance he is still alive, even after all this time."

  "Alright." Ean raised a forestalling hand towards Jaan and Azalea. "I can summon him, and if he causes any problems, I’ll send him right back. With his name I can--"

  Zin shook his head. "Tataren'bala isn't his real name. It means librarian in Abysian and is more of a title. I don't know his real name and I'm not sure if anyone does. If I can find him and bring him back, he might have some answers for us."

  "Find him?" Ean moved over to the imp and knelt down in front of him. "Now I know you're crazy. Are you volunteering--"

  "It’s certainly not something I want to do. But if it’s our only option at this point--" Zin paused long enough to take a deep breath. "You'll have to send me back to the Abyss."

  Chapter 17

  "That fool!" Shay screamed as she tossed a chair against the wall of their room at the inn. The wooden chair broke from the impact, legs and back coming apart with a clatter. "I'll strip her hide. Hang her by her toes and brake a wasp nest beneath her and let them cover her pretty little face."

  "There is no need to get this upset. Or cause this much noise before the sun has even risen," Nolan said in a calming tone, but he wilted underneath the larger woman's glare.

  "No need? NO NEED?" Shay smashed her fist down on the room's table, sending cracks in the wood streaking out from the impact. She was just as angry at herself as she was at Esmerelda. It had been foolish to believe someone as headstrong as she would wait a night to go after someone she had been hunting for over a year. Even more foolish of Shay to allow herself a pleasant night sleep, expecting Ezzy to be able to take care of herself in a small town like Rensen. The thought that Ezzy might go off on her own with her Vithalos never even crossed Shay's mind. She had believed her apprentice had been properly culled. Foolish.

  Of course, Esmerelda would make some excuse that would make it seem she hadn't disobeyed Shay's directions, but the woman would still receive her due punishment, regardless of how bloody and bruised Shay had to make the woman. "She will regret disobeying me to this extent."

  "You know we have to pay for any damages done to the room," Bavian said, his gaze on the broken chair. "More specifically, I have to pay for any damages done. Even more specifically, my patrons, the Janpair family, have to pay for the damages. They seemed fine in funding this little endeavor, but I do not know how long their good will is likely to continue if money is wasted on--"

  "Quiet!" Shay yelled, cutting him off. "I don't care about what your little masters think."

  "Oh?" Bavian's jovial tone hadn't changed, but something in his eyes had. Shay recognized it from right before the strange man had thoroughly beat her unconscious back in Shade. "Would you like to try and make me be quiet?"

  The thought of her previous defeat only spurned Shay on when she should have backed off. "Possibly, especially since I never wanted you along in the first place. Maybe this is where we part company, with you exiting through our window, head first."

  "Ohhhh, it would be a great deal of fun to see you try, my red-skinned vixen," Bavian countered.

  "This isn't helping." Nolan stamped his walking stick against the ground until they were both looking his way. "We need to calm down, pack up, and go after her, not start a brawl and cause more damage to the room."

  Shay stopped reaching for one of unbroken chairs and cast one last glare in Bavian's direction. "Fine. You two can pack. If I'm to calm down, I have to get away from that one." She gave a backhanded wave towards the cause of her annoyance before striding out of the room, slamming the door shut behind her.

  The door across the hall from their room jerked open and a woman wearing less-than-decent clothing and with a scowl that would have frightened children stuck her head out. She took one look at Shay, however, and whatever complaint had been on her lips dissolved into a queasy smile before she disappeared back behind the door.

  A wise decision based on Shay's current mood. Instead of teaching a stranger to stay in her room, Shay began to stomp down the hallway towards the stairs. She only made it a few steps before realizing she was behaving like a child and stopped. Inhale. Exhale. Calm the body and the mind. When she felt more focused, Shay continued on. For some reason, she had more of these episodes of anger ever since she had taken the bounty on Ezzy, or more specifically, when she had met Ezzy and decided to train her instead of take her in. In some regards, the training had been successful so far. The young woman was growing in skill, becoming an adequate hunter and a better fighter. Ezzy's connection to their Goddess Avien'zia seemed to be deepening as well. Quite a few times, Shay found her praying on her own. She also was picking things up almost as fast as Shay had during her own training. Not a small feat and something that caused Shay no shortage of pride.

  On the other hand, Shay seemed to be picking up some of her apprentice’s bad traits. Where she had held a strong grip on her emotions in the past, now she seemed to lose them on a constant basis. Breaking furniture, slamming doors, stomping down halls like a petulant child. She had never done such things even when she had been half Ezzy's age. Those who had trained her to hunt and kill, when her age had still been in single digits, often commented on her self-control. It seemed now that Ezzy was having more of a negative influence on her, and Shay wasn’t able to influence her protégé as effectively.

  She reached the common room without any further outbursts to find it mostly empty. A few patrons still occupied some of the tables, most with their heads down and eyes closed, while two men Shay had seen the previous night either enjoyed an early meal or a late one, depending on if they had gone home the night before. She didn't spot the owner, Bellinda, but a male server moved about the room collecting dishes and filling the mugs of those still awake when asked. He was an attractive man, as far as common folk go, with close-cut hair on top of a tan face with a broad chin. He was tall, not nearly as tall
as her, but enough to not make the difference awkward, and the hint of muscles slightly stretched his shirt at all the right places.

  The young man flashed her a smile that made her blush, and she quickly hurried from the room and out into the brisk air of the early dawn.

  "Letting a young man's smile make you act the fool," she mumbled, scolding herself while letting the fresh air fill her lungs. "Now you're acting even worse than Ezzy. At least she never seems to be distracted by men."

  It wasn't as if Shay had never been with an attractive man before. She didn't always hunt bounties on her own, and on a cold night, sharing a tent with a man was as practical as it was enjoyable. But those were hunters, people like her. Shay knew how to act around them and that neither party would attempt to read into the act any more than the other. They would continue on the next day without any change in behavior and wouldn't be against leaving the other behind if it meant catching their quarry. No emotional ties to get in the way.

  Unfortunately, now she had at least one person tied to her who seemed to expose her to all the feelings she had spent just over two decades locking away from the world. Her mentorship over Ezzy had opened her up to sentimentality, which was a weakness according to the teachings of Avien'zia. Yet, Shay had not only decided not to collect Ezzy's bounty, but she had taken her on as an apprentice instead—an apprentice who constantly tested her patience. Was this all some strange punishment her goddess was visiting down upon her for some unknown slight?

  Part of Shay, the side of her that would normally not have put up with such aggravation, almost convinced her to leave the others behind, to run down the woman before she reached Rottwealth, to tan her hide until she couldn't walk and then drag her back to Avien'zia's temple and train her properly. Ezzy's Vithalos would be a problem, of course, and Nolan would certainly try and stop her. But it was still a viable course of action.