Nyori hesitated for only a moment before Shifting. The orb atop of Eymunder flashed blindingly. Startled shadows scattered as the cavern flooded with light. Her vision danced in hues of violet and blue as serpentine strands sprang from the orb, glimmering golden mesh that slowly settled upon her. She felt the threads burrow into her skull, electric gossamer that laced across her mind. The web-like strands tightened as they sank in. She clutched her head in anticipation of pain, but there was only warmth, a swell of heat that tingled from head to toe.
Thoughts. Feelings. Memories. They flickered through her mind like rapid blinks of the eye. The life of Teranse the Theurgist whirred by, a windstorm of images impossible to take in as they settled into her subconscious. Impossible buildings of glass and steel shimmered, strange metallic constructions shot across the sky. A malevolent man's face opened into a doorway, and creatures of light emerged with baleful eyes. A dark-haired girl younger than Nyori rode a serpentine creature with a mane more magnificent than a lion. A powerfully built youth raised the very sword that Nyori saw in the Pale Lord's hands. A book filled her vision, fluttering pages filled with Glyphs that effused with golden light. Instead of unrecognizable runes, they distorted and became ordinary letters to her eyes.
Lastly, a mirror materialized in front of her. A slender, brown-skinned man wearing a richly cut gray cloak looked at her from the other side with a wry smile on his face. In one hand he held the staff Eymunder. He reached out the other hand as though in invitation.
Nyori took it.
"Hello, Shama Nyori of Halladen. As you might have guessed, I am Teranse. Or what remains of me, I suppose." The mirror had vanished. It was just Teranse and herself, hovering amidst an ocean of dancing blue shimmers.
"Hello," she said.
"You now have access to whatever memories I managed to cram into Eymunder's well. I suppose it will be a bit confusing sometimes, but it was the best way we could think of to make the passing of the Geods easier for a new wielder."
Nyori gazed at the legendary Sage. His face was surprisingly youthful. His brown eyes sparkled with intelligence, but she could have passed him anywhere without mention.
"You look so…normal. And the way that you speak—"
His wry smile returned. "Being a Sage requires nothing special, Nyori. I inherited the position by birthright, but more than mere birth is required to become the type of guide that this world needs. The fusorbs were crafted for the Elious, to aid them in governing mankind. Eymunder is yours now, and you must learn to use it wisely if you would unlock its full potential."
"I was told that the Tome of Apokrypy would help me understand the use of Eymunder," Nyori said. "That is why I sought this place."
Teranse's smile faded. "The Tome is no longer here, Nyori. I'm afraid that someone arrived here before you did. Long before you did. The Tome was removed centuries ago."
Nyori's heart quickened. "The Pale Lord. Alaric."
Teranse's outline shimmered as though he stood in a tunnel of pure light. "I don't know who it was, although your assumption has merit. I met Alaric before his descent into darkness. He was a noble man whose honor was matched only by his ambition. The significant point is that your use of Eymunder will be extremely limited without the Tome."
"What do I do, then?" Nyori asked. "I can't get it back if Alaric has taken it."
The light had enveloped Teranse, his features faded before her eyes. "I don't know the solution to that quandary, Nyori. After all, I am only the visual remainder of my memories. You will have to find out on your own. Let Eymunder guide you, and you might find a way."
Teranse vanished in the blinding luminance. Just as quickly the light dissipated, and the orb returned to its soft golden glow. The visions vanished, Asfrior returned to a tomb.
Nyori shifted back to her Outer mind.
She inhaled sharply and groaned, massaging her temples. Her head throbbed with an agonizing rhythm. She was alone again, but fear did not touch her as before. Eymunder stood beside her as if planted into the ground, still effusing its soft glow.
She hefted it easily. It was as light as the bamboo poles they used for fishing back home, but she knew it was stronger than the toughest iron. She was aware of other things as well. She recognized the paths of Asfrior as surely as Teranse the Theurgist must have. The ghosts of memory guided her through the darkness to a carefully concealed doorway. The outline glimmered the same color of the staff, visible only in its rays. There were no handles or any other visible way to open them.
Nyori focused. It was very similar to the concentration required to Shift minds, but instead of directing her attention inward, she fixated solely on the door. The patterned Glyphs on her arms and hands glowed, illuminating the darkness of the cavern. She pointed Eymunder at the doorway. The orb pulsed and a Glyph materialized in the center of the door. The sequence was important: the Glyph had to be formed correctly as the word had to be pronounced, or nothing would occur. Nyori spoke the word of command that sprang into her mind as though a part of her memory.
"Petah."
The door rumbled open, exposing a tunnel that glowed in the distance with the promise of daylight. She strode forward, feeling almost as she did only weeks earlier when she entered the tunnel that led to the Pools and inadvertently to Everfell. As then, it was a moment of passage from which she would emerge a different person.
After a short time, she squinted from the sun's welcoming light. As soon as the stone door slid close behind her, the pounding in her head faded like a dream. When the door sealed, it looked no different than any other part of the mountain. The forbidding peaks of the Dragonspine towered around her, cloaked in mists and low-hanging clouds. The darkened mountains reminded her of the ordeal that had brought her there in the first place. The gloomy halls of Asfrior seemed hospitable in comparison.
No task can be completed by desire alone.
Nyori took a deep breath and picked her way across the rough terrain until she found a stream where she slacked her thirst. Much to her relief, wild blackberries grew nearby. It seemed like days had gone by since supping with Rhanu and his band, and the saddlebags they had carried were lost with Ironhide and Nando.
She swallowed hard as the memory of her last moments with them resurfaced. But she forced the thoughts away, concentrating on the moment. She was alone in the most dangerous region known, with no food or water. Eymunder could not conjure up her means of survival, nor magically transport her home. But she knew that there were passages through the mountains, and perhaps travelers or refugees from the war would be there. She drank as much as she could and started forward.
The rest of the day was spent braving the Dragonspine. There was a dark majesty to the forbidding jagged peaks that thrust upward like broken daggers. The wind carried strange clouds, swirling masses of yellow-white cotton that danced with flickering lights. Wild goats and bighorn sheep leaped fearlessly across the precipices.
Later, while almost blinded by fog, Eymunder vibrated hard enough to jolt her arms. Nyori watched in fear and awe as a hulking, cloud-colored beast shook the ground as it passed by mere paces from where she hid behind a moss-covered boulder. She knew of apes from her studies, and the creature bore a slight resemblance. But it was five times the size of any ape Nyori knew about. Its fur was thicker, almost like sheep wool. It rose on its small hind legs and sniffed the air as if searching for something.
Nyori froze in her hiding place, praying that she avoid detection. The creature made a low, rumbling sound from deep in its chest. The sound was answered a short distance away by something hidden from Nyori's view. When she found the nerve to peek from behind the boulder, the giant beast was almost lost in the mists, following a more indistinct shape that appeared to be another creature of its kind. She waited until their sounds faded before resuming her journey.