The Shadow Of What Was Lost

Chapter 22

Asha unlocked the door to her chambers wearily.

It was the end of only her fourth day at the palace, and so far the entire experience had been one long blur, with Michal proving to be a merciless teacher. She was woken each day before dawn so that he could tutor her; when he had to attend to his other duties, he made her work through entire tomes of genealogies, explaining that the blood ties between Houses motivated much of their politics. He would then return in the evening, drilling her on what she’d learned and refusing to let her leave until she displayed enough progress to satisfy him.

She sighed. There had been opportunity for little else; she’d barely had time to come to grips with what Elocien had told her about Wirr and the attacks, let alone do anything in her new position as Scribe.

Still, despite her exhaustion, she was far from ungrateful. The more she saw of the Shadows in the palace – treated much the same as those from the Tol, if not worse – the more she came to understand just how fortunate she was.

"Ashalia Chaedris."

Asha looked up at the sound of her name. The only other person in the hallway was a Shadow, a man in his mid-twenties, heading straight for her.

"Do I know you?" she asked as he drew closer.

"The Shadraehin wants to know if there is news," said the man.

Asha repressed a grimace. "It’s only been a few days since I got here," she pointed out.

"And yet you’ve been made Representative. It seems clear the Northwarden trusts you," the man noted. He drew a slip of paper from his pocket and offered it to her. "Instructions. A way to leave a message for us, should anything new come to light."

Asha hesitated, considering telling the man outright that the deal was off. But she knew that would only lead to recriminations, possibly violent ones given what Erran had shown her. And the Shadraehin couldn’t know that she’d changed her mind, wouldn’t have any reason to think that the Northwarden would have disclosed the attack on Administration to her.

"Thank-you," she said, accepting the note. She turned away.

"As soon as you know something, make sure you tell him," said the Shadow softly. "He is eager to hear from you."

When Asha glanced over her shoulder, the man was already walking away. She stared after him for a few moments. Maybe it was the image of the swinging corpses in Administration still fresh in her mind, but something in the man’s tone made her… uneasy.

Asha examined the piece of paper as she walked inside. It was the name of an inn in the Middle District, the Silver Talon, along with directions and a short list of names to ask for once she was there.

She paused for a moment. Then she wandered over to the fireplace - still burning, thanks to the ministrations of one of the servants - and tossed the note in.

The paper quickly caught, curling and disintegrating.

"What was that?"

Asha flinched, spinning to see an enormous, muscular frame reclining in one of her armchairs.

“Kol,” she said in surprise, trying to sound pleased by the unexpected intrusion. “It’s nice to see you.” It wasn’t, but this was the first time she’d encountered the big Augur since their brief introduction, and she was still hopeful of making a good impression.

Kol studied her intently for a few moments, as if trying to see inside her head. Perhaps he was, she realised with a stab of discomfort.

"Burning notes is a little suspicious," he rumbled.

Asha scowled. "It was instructions on how to meet with the Shadraehin’s people, if you must know. I burned it because I’m never going to use it. Just as the duke asked."

Kol said nothing for a few seconds, then nodded. “Have you read through the papers Elocien gave you? The visions not in the Journal?” His tone was brusque.

Asha shook her head mutely, flushing, feeling like she was being chastised even though there was no way she could have found the time. She’d managed to read all the entries in the Journal itself, but the duke had given her a ream of loose papers as well – all the visions that hadn’t been confirmed. The ones she would need to read, in order to compare them against anything new.

“Then you should get started.” Kol rose and crossed the space between them in two quick strides. His expression was so grim that Asha’s first reaction was to shrink back defensively, but all the big man did was press a folded sheet of paper into her palm.

Then he was out the door, shutting it firmly behind him without another word.

Asha took a deep breath, partly relieved, but also a little annoyed at Kol’s rudeness. She understood he had misgivings about her, but she’d done nothing to deserve such curt behaviour.

She walked over and sat at her desk; once the lamp was lit and she was comfortable, she unfolded the paper Kol had given her and began to read.

I found myself in a cavern, the likes of which I’ve never seen. Molten red rock glowed everywhere around me. There was no way to tell, but it felt as though I was deep underground.

I walked forward along a narrow path, through a tunnel and then into a large room that had strange symbols carved into the floor. In front of me stood a creature. It seemed to be made of fire, in the shape of a man but with glowing skin and hair, undoubtedly not human.

Across from it, at the end of the room past all the symbols and standing beside a short stone pillar, was a plain-looking man with red hair. There was a sword on top of the pillar, and the man was in the midst of reading something on the blade.

“For those who need me most. What does that mean?” he asked.

“Another question I cannot answer,” said the creature.

“What does Licanius mean? It sounds Darecian. You could at least tell me that much,” said the man.

“Fate. The translation is more specific, but in your language, it means fate,” said the creature.

The man nodded, then picked up the sword. He shimmered for a moment, as if I was looking at his reflection in a pool of water, and then seemed to disappear entirely. I could still see everything else – the room, the creature – but he had vanished.

The next thing I knew I was back in the palace, and I recognised the scene straight away - it was just like the other times. Fessi, Erran and Ashalia were kneeling next to me. We were in a Lockroom, and I was lying on the floor; when I looked down I could see that I was bleeding from many wounds. The pain was sharp, but fading fast.

I felt my head growing light, and then the dizziness became too much. The vision ended.

Asha sat back, stunned.

It made sense now. No wonder Kol had been so brusque – and had looked so apprehensive when they’d first met.

Slowly, she reached over and unlocked her desk drawer, fumbling around until she felt the bundle of pages the duke had given her two days ago. She drew it out, untying the string around it and flipping through the pages one by one.

It wasn’t long before she found another of Kol’s entries, written a few weeks ago:

We were in a Lockroom. Fessi, Erran and a girl I do not recognise were all kneeling next to me, looking upset. There was an excruciating pain in my chest, and when I looked down I could see blood pouring out of several wounds. Fessi was trying desperately to help, but I could see in the eyes of the others that it was too late.

Suddenly I felt dizzy; the room spun and the pain faded, replaced by a kind of dream-like state. I tried to stay conscious as long as I could, but I also knew it would be of no use. I said something to Fessi, at the end - I can’t remember what. I hope it was something meaningful.

I closed my eyes, and the vision ended.

Asha just stared at the page for a long moment in horror. She knew this wasn’t confirmation – a vision needed to be Seen by a different Augur for that – but it seemed likely that if Kol had Seen this one twice, there was a good chance it wasn’t just a dream.

Feeling sick, Asha began flipping through the rest of the papers. An entry in Fessi’s delicate hand caught her eye:

It was night, and I was in a strange city. Everything was made of stone, and it was all black – the roads, the walls, everything. As if fire had scorched every surface. The sky was darker than it should have been, too – perhaps it was just cloudy, but it felt as though it was always like that there.

The streets were empty, but I was running as fast as I could. I wasn’t slowing my passage through time, though. Maybe I couldn’t for some reason? I was trying to be as quiet as possible, but I couldn’t stop my footsteps from echoing off the cobblestones, and even that small sound was as good as shouting in a place like that.

Then there was a growl behind me and I turned to see a great wolf-hound, so big that its face was at the same height as mine. There was something strange about its eyes – they were too intelligent for an animal, I think. The creature came towards me, and I turned to run but in front of me another one had appeared. They moved in slowly, taking their time, as if they knew I had nowhere to go. I screamed for help, but no-one came.

The first creature finally attacked, and the last thing I felt was its teeth biting into my neck.

Not long after that, there was an older entry by Erran:

I was aware I was in a vision just in time to see Commander Hael driving a dagger into my stomach, screaming something at me.

Then I was waking up, lying on the floor of a Lockroom in the palace. There was blood everywhere – a disturbingly big pool of it on the ground where my face was. It was hard to orient myself, but when I checked my stomach, there was no wound. Most of the blood seemed to have come from my nose… and maybe my ears, which I thought was strange. Everything ached and I felt weak, nauseous; I tried to stand, but that turned out to be a bad idea. I collapsed back onto the floor, and everything went black.

When I woke up again, I was being led out into an unfamiliar courtyard. There were gallows there, which unfortunately meant that I got fixated on them and didn’t take much notice of my other surroundings. The executioner watched us as we filed up beside him, and we all stood obediently in front of our assigned length of rope. I’m not sure why I wasn’t struggling, but when I looked around at the people next to me, they seemed resigned to what was happening too. I didn’t recognise anyone. I wasn’t sure if I was happy or sad about that.

We all just stood there silently as the executioner walked down the line, draping the nooses around necks and tightening them. I watched him with a kind of detached fascination - I remember thinking I was glad he looked professional, because that wasn’t the kind of thing I wanted to have botched.

I stared out over the courtyard, but it was empty. Shouldn’t there have been a crowd watching something like that? Witnesses? I didn’t think it strange at the time, though.

Then the trapdoor below my feet opened, and I got the sudden rush of falling for just a moment. Everything went black again, but this time I’m fairly certain it was permanent.

Asha continued through the stack of papers in fascinated, horrified silence. Most of the visions were inconsequential: what was happening the following day, snatches of arguments or personal moments, but nothing of real significance. Hidden amongst them, though, she found repeating descriptions from each of the three Augurs – three identical visions written by Fessi and two from Kol. Erran’s vision of the hanging was repeated, too, though not the first part about getting stabbed by Commander Hael – whoever that was.

She shivered as she stared at the pages. What must it be like, to See your own death? None of the three had been able to determine any timeline for their visions, though she couldn’t decide whether they would consider that a blessing or a curse.

After a while, she filed Kol’s newest vision with the others and locked her desk drawer. She was tired, and it was only a few hours until she had to rise again.

Still, it took her a long time to get to sleep.

Asha groaned as a hand shook her by the shoulder.

“Go away, Michal,” she mumbled.

“It’s not Michal.”

Asha forced her eyes open. “Erran?” She pulled the sheets a little higher.

The young man gave her a sheepish grin. “Sorry. I did try knocking.”

“That’s okay.” Asha rubbed her face, slowly coming awake. “What time is it?”

“A couple of hours before dawn.” Erran yawned. “A time no living creature should be awake, I know. But your Representative is a harder task master than any of us anticipated.”

“You don’t have to tell me that.” Asha shook her head. “Why are you here?”

Erran made a face, then produced a slip of paper from his pocket that he handed to Asha.

“Nothing urgent,” he reassured her. “This was just the only time I could get it to you. If Representative Alac keeps you this busy, you may be in for more of these late night disturbances, I’m afraid. It’s not the sort of thing we can just slip under your door.”

Asha nodded. “Of course.”

Erran coughed, then gestured to the door. “I should let you get back to sleep,” he said apologetically. He turned.

“Erran.”

The young man stopped. “Yes?”

“I read the other visions last night. The ones not in the Journal.”

Erran turned, examining her face for a few moments in silence. “You have questions,” he said eventually.

Asha shook her head, remembering what Erran had Seen. “How… how do you deal with it?”

Erran bit his lip. “How long until you need to meet the Representative?”

Asha shrugged. “An hour?”

“Enough time, then. Get dressed. I want to show you something.”

“Okay.” When Erran didn’t move, Asha pointedly looked at him, then the door.

“Ah. Sorry.” Erran flushed, then exited.

Asha dressed hurriedly and soon joined Erran outside her room.

“So where are we going?”

Erran shook his head, indicating he didn’t want to say outside of a Lockroom. “You’ll see.”

They walked for a few minutes, turning down a series of increasingly bare hallways. This section of the palace was older and evidently less used; before long even the carpet underfoot had given way to hard grey stone, the occasional windows had vanished, and dust was evident everywhere. Only Erran’s torch provided any light.

“The palace backs onto Ilin Tora,” he explained as they walked. “These passages are cut directly into the mountain – like Tol Athian, but made by regular men, not the Builders.”

Asha nodded; the passageways were well-made, but the differences were obvious. Suddenly she was reminded of the similar journey she’d made with Jin, and she swallowed. “What’s back here?”

“The old dungeons. Storage rooms.” He shrugged. “Nobody uses this section of the palace any more. Some of the deeper passages collapsed years ago, and given that the space wasn’t needed, the cost of upkeep outweighed the benefits of having it available.”

Asha looked around, a sudden chill making her shiver. The walls here were closer, rough, looming in the shadows cast by the flickering orange torch. “Then why are we here?”

Erran stopped in front of a large, thick-looking oak door with a keyhole symbol above the doorknob, then produced a key from his pocket. Despite the obvious age of the door, the key turned with a well-oiled click, and the door swung open without a sound.

“For this,” said Erran.

Asha stared around in wonder as she entered the vast chamber, more a warehouse than a room. The torchlight didn’t reach the roof, and there was no telling how far back the walls went. Row upon row of shelves stretched out into the darkness, each holding a variety of objects.

“What is this place?”

Erran shut the door. “Administration’s stockpile of ‘dangerous’ Gifted artefacts. Every single thing they’ve confiscated from the schools and the Tols since the beginning of the war.”

Asha stared at him blankly for a few seconds. “These are all Vessels?” she asked in disbelief, gesturing to the vast assortment of objects on the shelves.

“Mostly. There are some books thought too valuable to burn. Plenty of things confiscated for spite rather than because they posed a threat. But if you pick something up, chances are it’s a Vessel.”

Asha shook her head, dazed; given the price Administration put on Vessels, the contents of this room represented hundreds of thousands of gold pieces. Maybe more. “How do you….”

“One of the many benefits to having the head of the Administrators on our side. Aside from Elocien, there’s only one other man who has access – Ionis, Administration’s chief adviser in the palace. He rarely comes down here though, so we should be safe.”

Asha took a closer look at one of the shelves. The items on it looked innocuous enough. “What do they do?”

“All sorts of things. Administration took anything they thought could be used as weapons, but nearly half were confiscated because the Tols couldn’t give a satisfactory answer as to what they were for. Some fire bursts of energy, plain and simple. Some can blow a hole through ten feet of stone, or put people to sleep, or create illusions.” Erran smiled. “Some allow you to turn invisible.”

Asha paused. “That’s why I didn’t see you come into my room, back at the Tol.” She’d wondered about that a few times since she’d arrived, but other questions had always taken precedence.

“We didn’t want anyone to know we were there until we could talk to you.” Erran moved over to a nearby shelf and picked up a torc. It was similar to the twisting, sinuous shape of a Shackle, but this one gleamed silver, not black. “This is what we used. We call it a Veil.”

Asha frowned. “How did Elocien use it, though? He doesn’t have a Reserve.”

“Neither do I.” Erran gave her a crooked smile. “As long as these are filled with Essence beforehand, they’ll work. Without a Reserve to tap into, they last about an hour before the Essence decays.”

Asha frowned. “What do you mean, you don’t have a Reserve?”

“None of us Augurs do.” Erran shrugged. “We can use Essence, but we get it from external sources. We’re not like the Gifted in that respect.”

“Oh.” Suddenly Davian’s struggles with Essence made a lot more sense. The thought, as with all involving Davian, came with a sharp pang of loss. “So… do you have the Mark, then?”

“I don’t – we only get one if we use quite a large amount of Essence at once. Fessi doesn’t have one either, but Kol got his before we realised what would happen. He has to keep his arm covered all the time now.”

“I see.” Asha stared at the torc in Erran’s hand. She hadn’t missed being Gifted more than at that moment.

Erran bared his forearm, then touched the open end of the torc to it. Immediately the metal twisted, became fluid, melding itself to his skin until his arm was rippling silver in the torchlight.

Then he vanished.

Asha blinked. “Erran?”

“Still here,” came Erran’s voice. Suddenly he was visible again, the silver torc back in his hand. He held it out to her with a grin. “Want to try it?”

Asha hesitated. A part of her did want to – badly – but she knew, deep down, it would just be a disappointment. A hollow echo of what it was like to use Essence. She shook her head.

“Why did you bring me down here?” she asked, looking away.

Erran’s smile faded as he saw the expression on her face. Nodding to himself, he moved over a few shelves and located a bound book. He handed it to her silently.

“What’s this?”

“The Journal from before the war.”

Asha stared down at the tome in her hands. “The… Augurs’ Journal?”

“Yes.” Erran gently opened the book for her, then flipped through some pages. “Here. Read some of these.”

Asha did so, her frown deepening as she scanned through the pages of visions. One entry spoke of an earthquake in the south, destroying the city of Prythe. Another described a massive fire in Ilin Illan, with the palace burning to the ground, along with many of the other buildings in the Upper District. A different vision foretold an assassin taking Emperor Uphrai’s life, plunging the Eastern Empire into civil war. Each one was long, detailed, and confirmed by other Augurs.

“None of these happened,” she said eventually.

Erran nodded. “You want to know how I deal with what I See?” He gestured to the Journal. “I hope I’m like them. I hope I’m wrong.”

Asha stared at him, then back at the book in her hands. “So the invasion you foresaw….”

“No. Don’t get the wrong idea,” said Erran hurriedly. “Nothing Fessi, Kol or I have Seen has ever failed to come to pass.” He sighed. “Honestly, I don’t think it’s likely that I’m wrong, Ashalia. We have to assume that everything we See will happen. But… it still gives me hope. And that’s something.”

Asha flipped further through the book, a little stunned. Her brow furrowed as she came to the end. “There are pages missing,” she said, pointing to some ragged edges near the spine.

“Quite a few,” agreed Erran. “We think whoever recovered the Journal after the Night of Ravens must have taken them before handing it over to Administration. With the Augurs and their Scribe dead, there was no way to know what was in them.”

Asha nodded. She kept looking through the book for a while, then handed it back. “Thank-you,” she said sincerely. Erran had been right. Knowing just how wrong the Augurs had been once before… it helped, somehow. Made their visions just a sliver less terrible.

Erran inclined his head. “It’s only right that you have all the facts, anyway. You’re as much a part of this as us, now. You need to know it’s possible.” He put the Journal back in its position on the shelf, then gestured to the door. “We should head back before Representative Alac comes looking for you.”

Asha gave an absent nod, but her mind was on something else. She stared around at the rows upon rows of Vessels stretching away from them. “The invasion… wouldn’t some of these be able to help against whatever is coming?”

Erran shook his head. “The First Tenet would still prevent the Gifted from using them. Even from charging them, in most cases – it’s still intent to use Essence against non-Gifted.” He sighed. “We thought about it long and hard, believe me. But many need a Reserve to even work, and most of those that don’t still need the mental training to control them. The Veils are an exception – and there’s only three of them. Nearly everything else was designed to be used by the Gifted.”

Asha nodded, disappointed. “Of course.” She hesitated. “One last question before we leave. Who’s Commander Hael?”

Erran grimaced, taking a few seconds before replying. “You wouldn’t have seen him, I think - he’s only around the palace now and then. He’s in the army, as you’ve probably already deduced.” He gave an uncomfortable shrug. “I’ve Read him, a couple of times, just to be sure. He doesn’t even know who I am, and he’s not an especially violent man. So… I have no idea why he would stab me.” He stared at the ground, and Asha could tell he didn’t want to talk about it any further.

“Sorry,” said Asha. “I shouldn’t pry.”

Erran shook his head. “No, it’s okay. I’ve just never talked about it with anyone before.”

“Not even Kol and Fessi?”

“Especially not them.” Erran raised an eyebrow. “We can’t discuss our visions, remember? Otherwise this whole system is pointless.”

“Oh, of course. That… must be hard.” Asha was silent for a moment. “What about Elocien?”

“Elocien?” Erran seemed not to understand what she was asking for a second. Then he gave a short laugh. “To talk to about this sort of thing? No, we never did. It’s just… not the same.” He shuffled his feet, looking impatient. “We really should hurry. The last thing we need is the Representative asking questions about where you were at this time of the morning.”

Asha nodded her agreement. They exited the room, Erran locking the door behind them, and began walking back into the main structure of the palace.

Asha was relieved to see that Michal wasn’t already waiting when they reached her rooms. She said a quick goodbye to Erran, then slipped inside, wondering if there was time for a quick nap before Michal arrived.

She’d barely climbed back into bed when there was a knock on the door.

Muttering to herself, Asha opened the door to find Michal waiting. He looked at her with a pleased expression.

“You’re already up,” he said with an approving smile. “Good to see you’re getting into a routine.”

Asha opened her mouth to correct him, then just gave a resigned nod, falling into step alongside the Elder. “So what are we studying this morning?”

“Something a little more practical, actually.” Michal glanced behind them to make sure no-one was listening, then lowered his voice. “There was an interesting piece of news last night – it’s worrying, but it’s also something that could significantly change our position here. Once it becomes public knowledge, we may get more visitors than I can handle. I need to prepare you to meet with some of the minor Houses by yourself.”

Asha frowned, taken aback. “What was the news?”

“An unknown army has been sighted within Andarra’s borders, to the north.” Michal grimaced. “Invasion, from the sounds of it.”

Asha went cold. Michal was still talking, but she didn’t hear whatever he was saying.

The Augurs had been right. The attack on Ilin Illan was coming.