"Edgewarden," said Kiril, her back straightening. Raidon understood she must hold great respect for this man. "I hoped you'd still be here, guarding Stardeep's flank."
He studied her without speaking for a moment, then he said, "It has been a long time since a Keeper last came to visit me here at the end of the world. But the Keepers of the Cerulean Sign are an old, dusty order, eh? I wondered if perhaps I were the last."
"Hells and blood! No aberration born or grown has yet been able to best me, and I wield the Blade Cerulean. I, at least, remain. There are Knights still in Stardeep-or there were several days ago. My companions and I must press into Stardeep to determine their fate, and the status of the Traitor."
The bald elf said, "These creatures"-he gestured at the dead nilshai-"who've thrice found me here at the edge as I walked the periphery-do their attacks have anything to do with your desire to enter Stardeep? I guess they must have sympathies for the conspirator who lingers in Stardeep's deepest dungeon."
Kiril swallowed. "You have the right of it. The gods-damned nilshai were agents of the aboleths all along. They and the Traitor serve the same abominable masters. I go to discover if the Traitor remains penned; I fear he's escaped, or is on the cusp of doing so. Angul and I will try to put things right."
The elf nodded, and Kiril continued. "Edgewarden, if I may-have you had any communication from Stardeep of late? Has news perchance reached you of a former Keeper named Nangulis?"
The man shrugged. "No one comes this way. Except for the nilshai, I haven't seen anyone before you in seven years."
Kiril dropped her eyes, glumly nodding.
The Edgewarden looked at Raidon and Adrik. "Are these Keepers I haven't yet met?" His eyes lingered on Adrik and he frowned. Raidon guessed Adrik would not normally be allowed entry to the hidden realm.
"No-"
The bald elf moved to Adrik, who lay glassy-eyed on the beach. "What ails him?"
Raidon looked up. "He was poisoned by a nilshai. Can you help?"
The Edgewarden bent and ran his fingers lightly over the sorcerer's arm, chest, and forehead. His eyes narrowed and he said, "I can provide relief, though my ministrations are only temporary."
So saying, he muttered liquid syllables that were like a cool, refreshing wind. When Raidon tried to recall the sounds a moment later, they were gone. The Edgewarden touched Adrik with fingers sparkling as if with Stardust, and some color returned to the sorcerer's features.
The dark-robed elf stripped away the tourniquet and helped Adrik to his feet. The sorcerer was blinking and gazing around at the beach and misty sea in bemusement. He asked, "How did we get here?"
The Edgewarden patted the sorcerer's arm and asked Kiril, "And your other companion?"
Kiril pointed at Raidon. "This one carries a relic of our order-his mother was a star elf, though as far as I know she never came to Stardeep. How she got an Amulet of the Sign is a mystery. She passed it to her son."
The Edgewarden squinted at Raidon, then said, "Such relics are few and far between in these waning days of Sild?yuir. What was your mother's name?"
The monk said, "Answering that question is the quest that brought me here. I do not know her name, only that she came from this realm."
"I see," responded the Edgewarden, shaking his head. "I apologize, but these lands are under threat of collapse. ."
Surprising himself, Raidon broke the rules of proper discourse to interrupt. "But I just found this land! How can I protect my mother? What must I do to safeguard Sild?yuir?"
The old elf raised a placating palm. "If you and Kiril succeed in penning the Traitor, if he's truly free, then Sild?yuir may stabilize enough for me to continue my attempt to rein-scribe its borders. If so, return and find me. I think I can help you find your mother. If not, nothing else will matter."
Uncertainty and hope strove in Raidon's chest. Aloud he said, "Then succeed we must. I will return to speak with you again, Edgewarden."
"In case you do not return, know this: I suspect your mother's name is Erunyauv?."
Raidon asked, "What, do you know her?"
"Many gifts are mine, including divination. When I look at you, I hear that name. And why not-would you be here right now if not for the amulet she left you? It is a name that is not without history of its own, though time is too short to relay it. If. . when you return, I shall lend you my expertise in locating her. If she is anywhere within the realm of greater Yuireshanyaar, I can find her."
Raidon breathed a sigh and bowed his head.
Kiril broke in. "Edgewarden, please show us the path to Stardeep."
Ignoring the sorcerer, the Edgewarden said, "I shall, before another wave of nilshai descends. I sense them massing somewhere in this damnable flux."
So saying, he pointed up the grade they'd just descended. Raidon's eyes found a feature some twenty paces up the slope. What the monk had taken as just another boulder protruding from the sandy grit was revealed as something more: the rocky frame of a massive iron door. Had the Edgewarden dropped an illusion covering a doorway that had been there all along, or had he called the entrance into existence by mere desire?
Xet chimed and landed on top of the rocky frame holding the gate. The tiny construct slapped the door with its long tail. A dull gong tolled out across the misty expanse.
Kiril motioned Raidon forward. "Present your amulet to the doors. Angul would serve, but I prefer to keep him sheathed."
Raidon blinked, but he pulled forth the forget-me-not his mother-Erunyauv? — had given him. He displayed it before the sealed doorway. Nothing happened. He stepped forward another pace and touched the amulet to the lackluster iron.
Blue light sparked from amulet to gate. Stones danced and skittered down the slope as the entire beach shuddered. With an ear-splitting groan, the iron door swung wide, opening onto a shadowed, dusty stone stair descending into unguessed depths.
They entered Stardeep by a route rarely taken.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Stardeep, Underdungeon
The tunnel split, and split again as the company plunged into the warren of sedimentary rock that underlay Stardeep. The walls were smooth and white, possibly composed of salt and gypsum, but here and there patterns reminiscent of shells, bones, and teeth were picked out in the Knights' lantern light.
"Shall I send exploratory teams into these side passages?" asked the Knight Commander riding at Telarian's side.
"Not necessary," replied Telarian. "They are a distraction from the main route. And the openings are too small for a mounted company. We shall continue along this broad way. We need to make good time in order to catch our opponents as far from Stardeep as possible." More accurately, as far from Delphe's influence as possible, he mentally added. He continued aloud, "Perhaps we'll make it through to the other end. If we can catch our quarry in Sild?yuir, all the better."
Thindhul, the Knight Commander, awkward in his new authority and betraying a nervous shiver unseemly for his station, said, "How far did you say?"
Telarian frowned. The Commander knew better than to repeat such an insipid question. The passages that perforated the ground below Stardeep were a mystery; they were not delved by Stardeep's architects, but were discovered only after foundations of the dungeon created to hold the Traitor were mostly complete. Their existence was a surprise, given that the land into which Stardeep was cut was assumed to be virginal, untouched earth called into existence at the same time as the rest of Sild?yuir. If the land beneath Stardeep was riddled with caverns, might the earth below Sild?yuir be as well? And what primeval race left those caverns behind?
Past exploration showed that at least two routes stretched between Stardeep's underdungeon and Sild?yuir's outermost edge. Every Keeper knew this much. Unfortunately, nothing more than a couple of incomplete maps remained from those original mapping expeditions. Plus a few oddly conflicting stories about the hazardous nature of the creatures who hunted the dim paths.